Benzinga | Oct 18, 2021 04:16PM EDT

Amazon Plans To Hire 150,000 Seasonal US Workers For Holiday Shopping Season

E-commerce giant Amazon.com, Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) Monday announced that it plans to hire 150,000 seasonal workers in the U.S. for the upcoming holiday shopping season.

What Happened: Amazon's new hiring plan comes during a major labor shortage and increased union activities in the U.S.

The company has announced the new jobs will have an average starting pay of $18 an hour.

The company is also planning to offer a $3,000 sign-on bonus and an additional $3 per hour for workers in some shifts.

In September, Amazon increased its average starting wage in the country to more than $18 an hour.

According to Amazon, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, and Illinois are among the states that will have the highest number of seasonal jobs.

Last year, Amazon brought on roughly 100,000 seasonal workers for the holiday season.

The company has been on a hiring spree since the pandemic, bringing on 500,000 employees in 2020.

Amazon is the second-largest private employer in the U.S after Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT), with 950,000 employees nationwide.

Why It Matters: Amazon sees stiff competition in the labor market. Companies like Walmart and Target Corporation (NYSE:TGT) have already started giving perks to lure their workers.

Target has said that it plans to take on 100,000 seasonal workers for the season.

Macy's Inc (NYSE:M) has announced that it will hire about 76,000 full- and part-time workers at its stores during the holiday season.

Amazon continues to face employee flak for difficult work conditions in their warehouses including Alabama and Chicago. However, the company has denied the allegations and assured necessary efforts for improved working conditions.