Amazon leads retail sector in seasonal hiring

The most valuable brand in retail — and logistics, for that matter – Amazon.com, is on a 120,000-position seasonal hiring binge to meet an anticipated surge in holiday shopping just around the corner. The e-retailer is taking no chances this time around, with its new Prime Air service, an army of part-time grunts, and 18 warehouses opened in the third quarter of this year alone. This year’s hiring is 20,000 more positions than last year.

The Seattle-based company learned its lesson about overpromising in 2013, when last-minute delivery orders for Christmas presents were so high that many packages were not delivered by Christmas day 2013, as UPS had promised.

The National Retail Federation expects sales in November and December – excluding autos, gas and restaurant sales – to increase by 3.6 percent to US$655.8 billion, inducing U.S. retailers to add as many as 690,000 seasonal positions. This year, UPS will add 95,000 workers – 5,000 more than last year, Macy’s is hiring 83,000, down from 85,000 a year ago, and Target is adding 70,000, on par with 2015’s numbers. WalMart hasn’t yet announced its plans, but has added 60,000 the past two years.

Amazon’s hiring binge is disproportionately large in relation to its share of the U.S. retail market, indicating how invested the company is in its customer experience, as well as its willingness to eat short-term costs to bolster its reputation.

Prime, Amazon’s flagship e-commerce product, has quickly become a major venue for its member’s commercial activities, but this is predicated on its reliability.

A recent survey by financial firm Piper Jaffray found that nearly 75 percent of households in the U.S. making over $112,000 a year are Prime members, up from about 50 percent a year ago, and roughly 70 percent last quarter. The last thing Amazon wants to do is play the Grinch this Christmas, especially when the residents of Whoville are loaded.