Amazon has announced plans to hire more workers across the US as it opened its fulfilment service up to more products.
In a blog post the ecommerce giant said it had reached its initial expectation of 100,000 new jobs and was now recruiting for 75,000 more. The roles are primarily in Amazon’s warehouses.
Amazon also said this week that it would be expanding the categories of products it would ship for partners to those considered non-essential.
In March, it told Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) users that the service would be limited to essential items due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with third-party sellers on the online marketplace which use Amazon’s shipping service to deliver goods no longer be able to send them to Amazon’s fulfilment centres unless they fit into six categories deemed essential. Those categories are baby products, health & household, beauty & personal care, grocery, industrial & scientific and pet supplies.
These categories will now be expanded, although Amazon did not give specific details at this stage.
A spokesperson said: “We appreciate our selling partners’ patience as we prioritise products for customers and adhere to extensive health and safety measures in our fulfillment centers to protect our employees. Later this week, we will allow more products into our fulfillment centers.
“Products will be limited by quantity to enable us to continue prioritizing products and protecting employees, while also ensuring most selling partners can ship goods into our facilities.”
The company said it would share more details this week.
