Holiday Hiring 2016: Amazon Needs 7K Workers in MD, VA

BALTIMORE, MD — As retailers and shippers continue to staff up for Christmas and the holiday shopping season, Amazon is the latest company to announce its plans to ramp up its hiring efforts for the busiest shopping time of the year. And roughly 7,000 seasonal jobs with the online retail giant must be filled at centers in Maryland and Virginia.

On Thursday, Amazon said it plans to hire workers for more than 120,000 seasonal positions across the country at fulfillment centers, "sortation centers" and customer service sites in 27 states.

“This is our favorite time of year—we love serving customers during the busy holiday season and we’re excited to bring on more than 120,000 seasonal employees this year to support growing customer demand,” said Mike Roth, Amazon vice president of global customer fulfillment, in a news release. “Last year alone, more than 14,000 seasonal employees stayed on in regular, full-time positions after the holidays and we expect to increase that number this year.”

In Maryland, Amazon wants to hire more than 3,000 temporary employees in Rockville and Baltimore, along with 4,000 workers in Virginia at sites in Sterling, Springfield, Richmond, Petersburg and Chester, reports the Washington Business Journal.

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Last year, more than 14,000 seasonal positions at Amazon grew into regular, full-time roles after the holidays, and the company expects to increase that number this year.

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Businesses load up on temporary employees for the end of the year to meet increased demand, especially retailers who will see their sales spike at the end of the year and need the extra muscle to keep up.

And that demand is only growing. Last year, despite a spate of bad weather, holiday sales increased 3 percent to $626.1 billion, according to the National Retail Foundation, the seventh straight year of growth.

Consumers are ready to buy, and one forecaster expects sales in November and December 2016 to increase a healthy 3.6 percent to $655.8 billion, says the National Retail Federation. That’s significantly higher than the 10-year average of 2.5 percent and above the seven-year average of 3.4 percent since recovery began in 2009. Online sales should increase between 7 and 10 percent to as much as $117 billion.

Target was one of the first major companies to advertise temporary, holiday job openings. The company announced in September that it is looking to hire 70,000 "seasonal team members" to work at its 1,793 stores across the country and 7,500 more workers for its fulfillment and distribution facilities.

Kohl's Corp. is making plans to hire more than 69,000 seasonal workers for the holiday rush. Seasonal workers will be spread out over the company's 1,100 stores in 49 states — the same number as last year. Hirings began in August and will continue through mid-November. To search for openings, go here.

Toys R Us announced its holiday hiring plans last month but did not offer specifics in the way of a nationwide number of new jobs. In a statement to Patch, the company said its biggest hiring needs were in New York (more than 4,500), Los Angeles (more than 2,700), Philadelphia (more than 1,500), Chicago (more than 1,200) and Washington, D.C. (more than 1,000).

It's not just retailers loading up, either.

UPS is aiming to hire 95,000 workers for the season to make sure there are no delays in getting online orders to customers in time. At UPS, the seasonal hires frequently find permanent work with the company. About 37 percent of last year’s temporary hires have since become full-time employees, according to company officials.

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