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Amazon Will Hire 300,000+ Holiday Workers, the First Increase in Three Years: What the Pay and Benefits Look Like

ByPeter Joeseph 'Briefcase Maker' Kalafatis

Amazon said Tuesday that it plans to bring on more than 300,000 people for the U.S. holiday season, its first increase in holiday recruiting in three years, according to Reuters reporting republished by GV Wire. The company had employed about 250,000 seasonal workers in each of the past three seasons, so the new target is roughly a fifth higher.

The jobs are seasonal, part-time and full-time roles across Amazon’s core U.S. operations network, the warehouses and delivery sites that move orders from shelf to doorstep. Amazon’s own announcement, which it distributed through Business Wire, does not name specific locations. It does say new openings will be posted weekly from October through December and that seasonal roles can fill quickly.

Row of white delivery vans with open rear doors at a loading dock at dawn

What Amazon says it is offering

The pay and benefit figures below come from Amazon’s company statement, and Reuters and Fox Business reported the same core numbers. Treat them as the company’s description of its own program.

  • Pay: seasonal employees will average $20 an hour. Full-time operations employees start at a minimum of $20, and average hourly pay across core operations is nearly $24. Amazon adds that, counting benefits, average total compensation for full-time employees exceeds $32 an hour.
  • Health coverage: starting January 1, 2027, seasonal employees who work at least 30 hours a week become eligible for health coverage, with plans starting at $5 a week and $5 copays. Workers hired before that date get coverage on January 1; those hired on or after it get coverage from their first day. GeekWire reports that seasonal workers previously waited 90 days.
  • Discounts: an uncapped 10% discount on eligible groceries and essentials on Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market online, and 20% in Whole Foods stores.
  • Other benefits for eligible employees: Amazon lists a free Prime membership, prepaid tuition of up to $5,250 a year through its Career Choice program, a 401(k) with a company match, and paid parental leave.
  • How to apply: amazon.com/localjobs, or text NEWJOB to 31432 for local job alerts.

Amazon ties the pay figures to a previously announced investment of more than $1.5 billion in higher pay for its U.S. core operations workforce. The announcement does not compare this year’s pay or hiring with last year’s, so the year-over-year hiring comparison rests on the Reuters baseline of about 250,000.

Why the timing stands out

Amazon is going the opposite way from most of retail. Challenger, Gray & Christmas projected in early October that U.S. retailers will add about 450,000 seasonal jobs this fall, down 2.5% from 461,500 a year ago, according to HR Dive. Challenger said last year’s total was already the smallest seasonal gain since 2008, and its chief revenue officer linked the restraint to high prices and tariff worries, with retailers leaning on existing staff and on-demand workers instead.

The demand side looks firmer. The National Retail Federation forecast last week that U.S. holiday sales will grow 4.2% from a year earlier and top $1 trillion, Reuters noted. We covered that outlook, including how much of the growth comes from higher prices, in our holiday sales forecast post. The Next Web, citing Bloomberg, reported that UPS plans to hire more than 100,000 seasonal workers and that Walmart and Target had not announced holiday hiring plans; GeekWire puts the UPS figure about 9% below last year. Those retailer details come from secondary reporting, so check them against company announcements as they arrive.

Worn work gloves, a high-visibility vest and a yellow hard hat on a wooden bench in front of lockers

There is a counterweight. Amazon has cut roughly 30,000 corporate jobs since October 2025, GeekWire and The Next Web both report, and Reuters says the company announced a small number of retail-division layoffs earlier this month. A big warehouse hiring push and white-collar cuts can happen in the same quarter, which is part of why job-market headlines this year have pulled in different directions. Our look at real weekly paychecks falling behind prices is the pay-side companion to this story.

What it means for people who work for a living

If you are weighing a seasonal job, the hourly rate is only the first line. Ask what the schedule looks like during peak weeks, how many hours are typical, when the assignment ends, and whether overtime or shift premiums apply. The health-coverage change is the most unusual piece: eligibility for seasonal workers who reach 30 hours a week is a real benefit, but it begins January 1, so someone hired in October or November will need to understand how the gap before that date is handled.

Amazon says seasonal workers can move into full-time roles and that some have become trainers and managers, but its announcement gives no count of how often that happens. If a seasonal job is meant as a bridge to something steadier, ask the recruiter directly how conversion decisions are made and what share of last year’s seasonal hires stayed on.

The work itself is physical. Warehouse and delivery roles mean long hours on your feet, so comfortable broken-in footwear, sturdy gloves and a reliable way to carry your essentials matter more than they might at a desk job. A durable bag that survives a commute in every kind of weather is a small expense that pays back across a long season.

Cardboard shipping box and wrapped gifts on a front porch beside a holiday wreath

For shoppers, the hiring plan is a signal that Amazon expects heavy order volume. The Next Web, citing Adobe, reports that U.S. online spending is forecast at $275.1 billion for November and December, up 6.7% from last year. Orders placed early in the season tend to dodge the worst crunch, and a few days of buffer on gifts costs nothing.

Facts worth double-checking

Two claims in the coverage are not independently confirmed. The “largest holiday hiring target on record” description appears in GeekWire’s report and rests on Amazon’s own framing, and the roughly 20% increase is arithmetic from the 250,000 baseline rather than a number Amazon published. Details such as pay rates and benefit start dates can also change by location and role, so confirm them on the posting you are actually applying to.

This article is general news information, not employment, financial or legal advice. Confirm current terms with Amazon before making a decision.

Sources

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