E-commerce giant Amazon recently went on a hiring binge. It offered positions ranging from warehouse associates to work-from home customer service associates. The job opportunities opened by the company caught the attention of a multitude of job seekers in the US.
Hundreds of individuals lined up at the company’s Kent warehouse with the hope of finding work. While some left uncertain, others emerged from Amazon Jobs Day with a new position. Word has spread about the company’s good benefits package, including paid leaves and even paid specialized training for warehouse workers.
Amazon’s dominance in e-commerce has been evident in recent years.
Diversified global firm
The global e-commerce firm has been around since the mid-1990s. From an online bookstore, it evolved into a diversified firm selling lots of items that range from apparel to jewelry, toys, electronics, housewares, and food. Today, Amazon continues to grow at breakneck speed.
Amazon's share price suddenly soared a few weeks ago. It sent Jeff Bezos’ fortune soaring, almost toppling that of Bill Gates. Amazon’s share price plummeted after a few hours.
The man at the helm of the successful global organization, Jeff Bezos started his business venture selling books from his garage. Today, he counts among the top five richest entrepreneurs in the world, along with Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, American investor Warren Buffett, and Inditex founder Amancio Ortega.
Modern job creator
The company’s Virtual Contact Center recently enticed people to apply as customer service associates. Selected applicants will be trained to respond to customers’ queries by phone, or to render quick assistance when people contact Amazon through its website. The company recognizes that providing customer satisfaction is vital.
Competing firms and the public-at-large have noted the army of workers and machines that the e-commerce firm has deployed to its facilities. As of end-June, the company’s employee force stood at 382,400 people, up by over 40 percent over last year.
The company has about 100,000 robots. The robots whisk away items -- that were unloaded by workers from trucks and stowed on shelves -- to other parts of the Amazon warehouse.
News about Amazon's continuous hiring underscored the organization's role as a job creator. Detractors may point out that the global e-commerce firm may be destroying more jobs (through automation) than what it is creating, but many people are bound to disagree. With more warehouses slated to be opened in the months ahead, more jobs will eventually be created.
