Amazon India Rolls Out 50K New Jobs To Meet Ecommerce Demand

Ecommerce major Amazon is creating 50K temporary jobs across its fulfilment centres and delivery fleet in India to fulfil the impending surge in online orders. The move is likely to provide employment to those laid off by Ola, Zomato and Swiggy.

Amazon said that temporary associates will be hired to work in the supply chain process. Most of these employees will be given roles to pick, pack, ship and deliver orders to customers. These new job roles will also allow employees to work part-time under Amazon’s Flex service.

Akhil Saxena, vice-president of customer fulfilment operations for APAC, MENA and LATAM at Amazon, said this will keep as many people as possible working during this pandemic while providing a safe work environment for them.

The ecommerce major has promised to follow the same standards of well-being for on-ground workers it rolled out at the start of the pandemic. These standards include hazard pay, increased sick leave, measures such as the mandatory wearing of face masks, temperature checks and regular sanitation of warehouses and delivery hubs.

Amazon’s senior vice-president and India head, Amit Agarwal, in a tweet, said that the additional manpower would help Amazon meet the surge in demand and to provide critical service in this difficult time.

In an earnings call recently, Amazon had stressed that the company is going to spend around $4 Bn globally as part of its Covid-19 response. Amazon said that out of the total corpus, the company is going to spend around $350 Mn to hire more employees while increasing their pay to compensate for their services.

Besides India, the company has also ramped up hiring in the US as well. So far, Amazon has hired more than 175K workers in the US to meet the surge in the demand for online orders. Meanwhile, the company has reportedly doubled the pay of delivery and warehouse workers in India.

Amazon To Solve Supply Woes

Similar to many other ecommerce companies in India, Amazon is also facing a shortage of on-ground staff as many employees have gone back to their hometowns.

According to a report by the Economic Times, Amazon is operating at sub-optimal levels due to the shortage of manpower for the last two months. As of now, Amazon hasn’t cleared that the company will deploy these people in grocery or ecommerce delivery.

Moreover, Amazon has also recently launched its food delivery in Bengaluru and is aiming to ramp up the service in other cities across the country. Therefore, the company might also deploy these newly hired employees to deliver food.