Advertisement

Amazon offers bonuses in aim to hire 150,000 seasonal workers

Amazon (AMZN) aims to hire 150,000 seasonal employees ahead of the busiest time of year for retailers. The e-commerce giant is offering lucrative incentives to lure talent amid a supply chain crunch and tight labor market. The average salary for seasonal jobs start at $18 per hour along with sign-on bonuses up to $3,000.

Despite lucrative incentives, the question is whether Amazon and other giant retailers can convince enough people to work for them amid a red hot labor market.

Competition for workers is fierce as giants like Walmart (WMT) and Target (TGT) are also looking to hire ahead of the holidays. Last week clothing retailer Nordstrom (JWN) announced plans to hire 28,000 seasonal and regular employees, offering extra incentives for those working in supply chain and fulfillment centers.

[Read more: Nordstrom is hiring 28,000 employees amid holiday supply chain crunch]

The economy added only 194,000 jobs last month, far below 500,000+ expected. Unemployment ticked lower to 4.8% percent in September. However, the drop came alongside an unexpected decrease in the labor force participation.

Practically ever industry is feeling the labor shortage squeeze as nearly 4.3 million Americans quit their jobs in August. Workers sought out higher wages, opted for lifestyle changes, or lacked affordable childcare.

Salaries, working hours and location flexibility are paramount for attracting workers. For the most part employees are in the driver's seat when it comes to their pick of jobs.

Amazon says the seasonal roles are in addition to previously announced plans to hire over 40,000 new corporate and tech jobs, and 125,000 full and part-time fulfillment and transportation jobs.

Shares of the e-commerce company are trading fractionally higher as of Monday's mid-session. The stock is up slightly over 7% year-to-date.

All Markets Summit
All Markets Summit

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance

Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Flipboard, and LinkedIn