USA Today reports “Retailers are ramping up hiring for positions ranging from the warehouse to the checkout counter, as delivery and service workers increasingly become indispensable to Americans largely confined to their homes because of concerns about the coronavirus.”
Amazon says it will hire 100,000 new workers for warehouses and online deliveries in the U.S. The retailer will also temporarily increase its pay through April raising their minimum pay to at least $17 an hour in the U.S. and similar amounts in the United Kingdom and Europe.
“We are seeing a significant increase in demand, which means our labor needs are unprecedented for this time of year,” Dave Clark, Amazon’s senior vice president of worldwide operations said in a blog post Monday. “We are opening 100,000 new full and part-time positions across the U.S. in our fulfillment centers and delivery network to meet the surge in demand from people relying on Amazon’s service during this stressful time, particularly those most vulnerable to being out in public.”
Meanwhile, Kroger, the supermarket chain, says that it has “immediate positions available … across our retail stores, manufacturing plants and distribution centers,” and “we are expediting the hiring process in order to get people to work quickly.”