Amazon.com Inc. is gearing up to hire scores of local workers to get it through the busy holiday season, though it won't be adding nearly as many as it did in years past.
The company (NASDAQ: AMZN) lists 1,100 seasonal job openings in Greater Washington and its outer suburbs in Maryland and Virginia — a far cry from the 2,800 seasonal openings posted this time last year for D.C., Arlington and Alexandria alone.
This year's count includes roles as north as Frederick and as south as Fredericksburg. The e-commerce giant is cutting back on its seasonal hiring here because the company's workforce needs have changed, spokeswoman Emily Hawkins told the Washington Business Journal. Online shopping has slowed somewhat as pandemic fears have eased.
“Coming out of the pandemic, our workforce needs have stabilized and we are no longer hiring at the same pace that we were last year,” Hawkins said. “While our pace may have slowed, we are continuing to hire.”
Still, Amazon does not appear to be slowing the pace of seasonal hiring in other markets. Nationwide, it says it's looking to fill 150,000 seasonal jobs, unchanged from last year, and across the entire state of Maryland it lists 4,600 openings, nearly double what it listed last year. In all of Virginia it lists 3,700 seasonal openings — the same amount as last year.
It's unclear why Amazon is hiring fewer people in Greater Washington than in other regions; the company declined to say.
The pullback on hiring is coming in the midst of a broader belt-tightening at Amazon. The New York Times reported Oct. 4 that it would freeze hiring for corporate and tech roles in its retail division for the rest of 2022, as high inflation has crimped the unit's profits. The company is also planning to close two Maryland logistics centers, in Hanover and Essex, on Oct. 25, eliminating more than 350 positions.
The temporary jobs include customer fulfillment and transportation roles, Hawkins said.
“Seasonal jobs are popular because they pay well, offer flexible schedules, and can grow into full-time positions at the company,” she said in an email. “Seasonal employees help manage increased orders directly, while also supporting our full-time employees so they have more flexibility.”
Some of the part-time and full-time roles are at its delivery stations in Beltsville, Rockville, Hyattsville, Upper Marlboro, Lanham, Sterling and Manassas, according to the company’s seasonal job postings.
Pay ranges for these local roles between $17 and $17.75 per hour, tracking lower than Amazon's average pay of $19 per hour, per the job postings. Some positions, such as warehouse roles located in Amazon’s facilities in Manassas and Sterling, include sign-on bonuses of up to $1,000.
This story has been updated.
