In March, Amazon announced it would hire more than 175,000 temporary full- and part-time roles across its North American operations network to help provide for communities relying on Amazon’s service and keep as many people working as possible during the coronavirus pandemic. This included more than 3,500 new employees hired in Tennessee.
Like other companies, Amazon brought those individuals on in seasonal roles to meet a surge in demand and, for many, there was the hope of returning back to their previous companies once states began to re-open. As the long-term picture becomes clearer, Amazon announced on Thursday that it will be providing the opportunity for 125,000 of those who joined in a seasonal role to stay with the company and transition into a permanent, full-time role beginning in June.
While some seasonal employees may choose to return back to their pre-COVID job and others may choose to stay at Amazon in seasonal roles or part-time roles, for those who wish to stay and grow with Amazon, more than 2,000 of these seasonal-to-permanent, fulltime roles will be offered in Tennessee. These roles are specifically for customer fulfillment and last mile delivery. Amazon expects to offer more fulltime roles in the coming days.
These new employees will continue to fill a range of roles, including picking, packing, and shipping customer orders and delivering packages from delivery stations, and will join the more than 6,500 fulltime employees already working in Amazon facilities across the state in 2020.
Permanent roles at Amazon come with a minimum wage of at least $15 an hour (and up), comprehensive benefits package starting on day one, including full medical, vision and dental insurance as well as a 401(k) with 50 percent match. Additionally, all associates have access to innovative training and continuing education programs like the company’s Career Choice program, which creates a springboard for employees into a career at Amazon or other companies. The company also offers up to 20 weeks of maternal and parental paid leave and benefits such as Leave Share and Ramp Back, which give new parents flexibility with their growing families.
The U.S. has seen record unemployment numbers over the past several weeks and Amazon’s hope is that the option for so many people to stay on long-term at Amazon will help alleviate some of the ongoing burden of unemployment in communities across the U.S.
At Amazon, employees and partners in its operations network are among the many heroes during the COVID-19 crisis, and the company is investing nearly $4 billion to keep them safe and helping them deliver for people across communities, said officials.