It’s the fastest workforce expansion in the history of corporate America
427,300: That’s how many employees Amazon added to its workforce between January and October this year. The company now has 1.2 million employees, 50% more than last year, making its recent hiring spree the most rapid workforce expansion in corporate America ever, according to the New York Times.
No company exemplifies how much the pandemic has favored large corporations as much as Amazon. The e-commerce giant has pressed its advantage in several different ways this year: launching pharmacy services; expanding its catalog of private label goods; replacing the USPS with its own delivery network; and turning recently vacant mall space into fulfillment centers.
While many workplaces have shifted to remote work, Amazon seized the opportunity to dramatically expand its real estate footprint, paying $1 billion in March for the iconic Lord & Taylor building in Manhattan, and announcing in September that it would be leasing 2 million square feet of office space in Bellevue, Washington while also planning to build a skyscraper there, amid other expansions of office and warehouse space.
Most of Amazon’s frantic hiring has been for warehousing roles, with the company offering $3,000 signing bonuses to new hires that had older hires complaining. It’s a good thing for these workers that they’ll have jobs amid historic unemployment; too bad their new employer is probably spying on them to make sure they don’t unionize.
Just counting down the days until we’re all Amazon employees.