Reuters: Technology News: Amazon unveils new hiring spree ahead of Obama visit

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Amazon unveils new hiring spree ahead of Obama visit Jul 29th 2013, 18:37 Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Amazon's overseas weakness overshadows strength at home Thu, Jul 25 2013 Analysis: New e-commerce strategies threaten UPS, FedEx Sun, Jul 14 2013 Apple colluded on e-book prices, judge finds Wed, Jul 10 2013 Analysis & Opinion Obama’s Plan: One Nation, Under Government Related Video 2:16pm EDT A box from Amazon.com is pictured on the porch of a house in Golden, Colorado July 23, 2008. Credit: Reuters/Rick Wilking By Alistair Barr SAN FRANCISCO | Mon Jul 29, 2013 2:37pm EDT SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc unveiled a new hiring spree on Monday ahead of a visit by President Barack Obama to one of the Internet retailer's giant distribution warehouses this week. Amazon said it is looking to fill more than 5,000 new full-time jobs at 17 of its fulfillment centers across the United States. That's roughly a 25 percent increase in full-time fulfillment center staff, which currently number more than 20,000 in the country. Amazon has been building lots of new fulfillment centers closer to customers in recent years as the company tries to speed up delivery of online orders and reduce shipping costs. Amazon needs a lot of workers to pick, pack and ship orders alongside high tech robots that whiz around its warehouses. The company's demand for employees is so strong that it has created special programs to woo candidates. Last year, Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos used the front page of the company's website to announce a Career Choice program that pays thousands of dollars for warehouse employees to take technical and vocational courses in high-demand areas including engineering, information technology, transportation and accounting. Amazon made its latest hiring push as President Obama is due to visit a company fulfillment center in Chattanooga, Tennessee on Tuesday to speak about jobs in the United States. The President will discuss proposals to jumpstart private sector job growth and make America more competitive, according to a White House spokeswoman. (Reporting by Alistair Barr; Editing by Chris Reese) Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (9) 5000 more slave labor jobs at $7.25 per hour? Jul 29, 2013 5:27am EDT  --  Report as abuse Yep – the stats show average wages dropping because we continue to lose the higher paying jobs, & the ones being added are like these, or jobs at WalMart, etc, all at low end levels. Now the "slave labor jobs" as you call them are better than nothing, but they're not sustaining our standard of living in the U.S. for those employees. Jul 29, 2013 8:11am EDT  --  Report as abuse Collect and pay the local and state sales taxes to the proper states. Jul 29, 2013 8:12am EDT  --  Report as abuse See All Comments » Add Your Comment

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