Amazon announced on Thursday that it will be hiring the same 250,000 transportation and warehouse workers in anticipation of e-commerce spending exceeding traditional holiday sales in the fourth quarter of 2024.
TakeAway Points:
- Amazon plans to hire 250,000 transportation and warehouse workers this holiday shopping season, the same number as last year as e-commerce spending is expected to outpace overall holiday sales in the final quarter of 2024, the company said on Thursday.
- It was unknown how many of the 250,000 seasonal workers—who work in sorting, fulfilling, and delivery stations—would be employed by transportation companies or fulfilment centres.
- Amazon’s announcement comes a day after the National Labor Relations Board claimed that the retail giant was a “joint employer” of drivers for contractor Battle Tested Strategies (BTS).
- Meanwhile, the Justice Department announced on Thursday that the United States had taken control of 41 internet domains that were being used by Russian intelligence agents and their go-betweens to breach government systems, such as the State Department and the Pentagon.
250,000 workers to be hired for holiday
As e-commerce spending is predicted to surpass overall holiday sales in the fourth quarter of 2024, Amazon announced on Thursday that it will be hiring 250,000 transportation and warehouse workers this Christmas shopping season, the same amount as the previous year.
“Although there is an anticipated increase in the demand and the volume, we feel like the 250,000 is the right number to continue to grow and advance with our operations,” said Sandy Gordon, vice president of Global Operations Employee Experience at Amazon.
It was unclear what percentage of the 250,000 seasonal workers, which include staff in sort centers, fulfilment centers and delivery stations, would be in fulfilment centers or transport employees. The transport employees will not include delivery service partners or their teams, according to a company spokesperson.
Online holiday shoppers are expected to spend a record $240.8 billion, up 4.9% from last year. Broader holiday spending is expected to rise modestly at 3.2%, according to a Mastercard forecast.
While Amazon’s hiring plans remain flat compared to last year, the company is still outpacing big-box competitor Target, which will tack on 100,000 workers for the season.
U.S. retailers are grappling with a softer labor market and are expected to add 520,000 new jobs during the holiday shopping season, slowing down from last year’s 564,200 job openings.
Amazon’s announcement comes a day after the National Labor Relations Board claimed that the retail giant was a “joint employer” of drivers for contractor Battle Tested Strategies (BTS). The contractor’s drivers voted to join the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union last year.
An Amazon spokesperson said the Teamsters have “misrepresented the facts” as the union accuses Amazon of retaliating against BTS for drivers unionizing.
US says it disrupted Russian efforts to hack government agencies
According to the Justice Department on Thursday, the United States has taken control of 41 internet domains that Russian intelligence agents and their go-betweens used to breach government systems, including the Pentagon and State Department.
The department, in a statement, said it had acted concurrently with a Microsoft effort to take down 66 internet domains used by the same actors. The seized domains were used by hackers linked to a unit of the Russian Federal Security Service.
“The Russian government ran this scheme to steal Americans’ sensitive information, using seemingly legitimate email accounts to trick victims into revealing account credentials,” said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco.
The hackers had used the domains in a spear-phishing campaign aimed at getting access to information from U.S. companies, former employees of the U.S. intelligence community, former and current Department of Defense and State Department employees, U.S. military defense contractors, and staff at the Department of Energy, the DOJ said.
The seized domains were used by hackers belonging to the “Callisto Group” and its partners, which the DOJ described as a unit within the FSB. The group, also known as “Cold River” or “Star Blizzard”, first appeared on the radar of intelligence professionals after it targeted Britain’s foreign office in 2016.
In December 2023, the DOJ announced charges against two hackers affiliated with Cold River for a campaign to hack into computer networks in the U.S., the UK, other NATO members, and Ukraine.
