Amazon: We'll Create 100,000 Jobs Over Next 18 Months

SEATTLE, WA - Amazon is promising to add 100,000 new jobs in the U.S. in the coming 18 months for workers of all skill levels, the company announced Thursday morning, however many of the jobs will be at the online retailer's mammoth fulfillment warehouses.

Amazon said in a release that many jobs would come from new fulfillment centers slated to open in New Jersey, California, Texas and Florida. On top of direct employment, Amazon said its Marketplace and Amazon Flex programs would also provide employment opportunities.

Amazon Flex is an on-demand package delivery program - like Uber, but for pacakges - and Marketplace provides a way for retailers to sell goods on the main Amazon website.

"These jobs are not just in our Seattle headquarters or in Silicon Valley — they’re in our customer service network, fulfillment centers and other facilities in local communities throughout the country,” CEO Jeff Bezos said in a press release. “We plan to add another 100,000 new Amazonians across the company over the next 18 months as we open new fulfillment centers, and continue to invent in areas like cloud technology, machine learning, and advanced logistics.”

Amazon employs about 40,000 people at its corporate headquarters in Seattle, mostly in the South Lake Union neighborhood. The company has built a number of new skyscrapers over the past few years to house the thousands of white-collar workers employed here.

Here's how Amazon plans to add jobs in other U.S. states:

• New Jersey: 2,500 jobs at new fulfillment centers
• Florida: 6,500 jobs at new fulfillment centers
• Illinois: Will add 7,500 jobs when construction on fulfillment centers in Monee, Aurora, and Waukegan are complete
• California: Four new fulfillment centers planned, including in Sacramento and Tracy, will add 4,000 jobs
• Texas: New Houston fulfillment center will employ 1,000 people

Employment at Amazon - both in its Seattle corporate offices and in fulfillment centers - has been criticized for being harsh. A 2015 New York Times story detailed the brutal corporate culture, and numerous stories have detailed harsh conditions inside fulfillment centers.

But in its Thursday jobs announcement, Amazon touted "egalitarian" benefits - meaning fulfillment center workers and corporate executives get the same benefits. Those include health and disability insurance and a "Leave Share" program that allows employees to donate their time to a spouse whose job does not provide any.

Read more about Amazon's jobs announcement here.

Image of fulfillment center worker via Amazon.com