Company promises '11% increase in pay over the next three years'
Amazon has announced it is hiring 6,000 employees across Canada in full-time, seasonal, and part-time roles across its operations network.
Jobs include stowing, picking, packing, sorting, shipping customer orders.
“Seasonal roles are a great opportunity to learn about the long-term career opportunities available at Amazon,” says Victor Romia Portoles, director of Amazon Canada customer fulfillment operations.
“Seasonal employees who move into long-term roles at Amazon have access to benefits that start on day one, in addition to competitive pay. An employee who starts with us today will see an 11% increase in pay over the next three years — likely more, including our annual wage investments.”
This year, for customer fulfillment and transportation employees, the average hourly starting wage will be $21 per hour — up from close to $17 in 2018. Through Amazon's step plan compensation model, eligible hourly full- and part-time employees can count on planned pay increases every six months until their 24-month anniversary, and then they receive another increase at month 36. Employees can also receive referral bonuses for candidates they get hired to eligible positions.
U.S. hiring for holiday season
Amazon is also looking to add 250,000 people into its workforce in the United States this holiday season.
Job openings include full-time, part-time, and seasonal fulfillment center and transportation roles along with stowing, picking, packing, sorting, shipping customer orders.
Last year, Amazon launched a hiring campaign to add 150,000 workers for the holidays. But in March 2023, Amazon announced its intention to lay off an additional 9,000 employees in the coming weeks, as the company looked to streamline its costs and headcount amidst economic uncertainty. That added to the largest round of firings in the company's history, which saw around 18,000 workers let go in November of last year.
Pay increases for Amazon workers
On the pay front, the company says it is investing $1.3 billion toward pay increases for customer fulfillment and transportation employees. This would bring the average pay for those roles to over $20.50 per hour – a more than 50% increase over five years. In some locations, workers would be paid $28 per hour.
“A fulfillment or transportation employee who starts with us today will see a 13% increase in pay over the next three years – likely more, including our annual wage investments – and that’s on top of offerings like prepaid college tuition with Career Choice and health care benefits from day one,” said John Felton, Amazon’s senior vice president of worldwide operations.
Amazon has also added several new benefit offerings for workers, including an emergency savings program and a financial assistance pilot program.