By Nicolas
Amazon on Monday announced plans to hire 100,000 new workers in the U.S. to keep up with a surge of orders from people confined to their homes during the coronavirus outbreak.
The Seattle-based company said this weekend that a steep increase of orders is putting its operations under pressure. It warned shoppers that it could take longer than the usual two days to get packages. It also said it was sold out of many household cleaning supplies and is working to get more in stock.
The online retailer said it will also temporarily raise pay by $2 an hour through the end of April for hourly employees. That includes workers at its warehouses, delivery centers and Whole Foods grocery stores — all of whom make at least $15 an hour. Employees in the United Kingdom and other European countries will get a similar raise.
Last week, Amazon tweaked to its time-off policy for hourly workers, telling them they could take as much time off as they wanted in March, although they would only be paid if they had earned time off. The company also said it would pay hourly workers for up to two weeks if they contracted the virus or needed to be quarantined.
The new job openings are for a mix of full-time and part-time positions and include delivery drivers and warehouse workers, who pack and ship orders to shoppers.
