Amazon Holds Steady With 250000 Holiday Hires

Amazon is bucking the retail industry trend by maintaining massive holiday hiring while competitors scale back.

The e-commerce giant announced October 13 it will hire 250,000 workers across its US fulfillment and transportation networks for the 2025 holiday season. That's identical to the record-setting numbers from 2024 and 2023, and 67% more than the 150,000 temporary employees hired in 2022 and 2021.

The consistent hiring comes as overall retail seasonal employment is expected to plummet to its lowest level since the 2009 financial crisis. Challenger, Gray & Christmas projects retailers may add under 500,000 positions in the last three months of 2025, marking the smallest seasonal gain in 16 years.

Amazon's steady hiring stands out sharply against an industry pulling back on temporary workers.

Why Other Retailers Are Cutting Back

"Seasonal employers are facing a confluence of factors this year: tariffs loom, inflationary pressures linger, and many companies continue to rely on automation and permanent staff instead of large waves of seasonal hires," said Andy Challenger, workplace expert and senior VP at Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

President Donald Trump's tariff policies are creating uncertainty about consumer spending. Adobe Analytics projected US holiday online sales will grow at a slower pace this year, though e-commerce is still expected to outperform overall retail growth.

A PricewaterhouseCoopers survey found US shoppers becoming more selective, cutting back on discretionary purchases amid economic pressure. Tariff-related price increases combined with a weakening labor market could constrain total holiday spending.

Automation is replacing human workers in many retail operations. Companies are discovering they can handle holiday volume surges with existing permanent staff augmented by technology rather than massive temporary hiring sprees.

Target and Kohl's announced seasonal hiring without specifying numbers. Target noted it's entering the season with a "strong, experienced team" and utilizing "On-Demand" workers in stores, suggesting less reliance on traditional seasonal hires.

Bath & Body Works plans to hire over 30,000 seasonal associates, down from approximately 33,000 last year.

Amazon's Hiring Details

Amazon is recruiting full-time, part-time, and seasonal positions. Seasonal employees earn an average wage of over $19 per hour, with pay increases for returning temporary workers. A seasonal employee who has worked at Amazon for three years has seen pay increase an average of 18%.

Regular full- and part-time employees earn an average of $23 per hour with benefits. The company invests over $1 billion in additional pay and benefits for fulfillment and transportation employees, bringing average total compensation to more than $30 per hour when including elected benefits.

Roles will be posted weekly from October through December on hiring.amazon.com. The company warns positions fill up quickly, often within minutes of posting, due to high demand.

"We find that our seasonal roles are really popular—often filling up within minutes of being posted—because they meet different needs for so many different people," Amazon said. "For some, it's a few months of extra income to support their families during the holidays. For others, it's the first step in building a new career path."

The Career Path Angle

Amazon emphasizes seasonal roles as potential career launchpads. The company highlighted meeting employees who started as seasonal hires and became managers, trainers, or leaders across facilities.

Workers who transition to regular full-time roles gain access to expanded benefits including healthcare and education programs. Amazon's Career Choice program pre-pays tuition for employees earning college degrees or certificates.

The company has upskilled over 700,000 employees globally through prepaid education and training programs, positioning itself as an employer offering advancement opportunities beyond temporary work.

Focus on Rural Hiring

Amazon is particularly targeting rural areas for holiday hiring. The company is spending more than $4 billion to expand its same-day and next-day delivery network in over 1,000 smaller cities, towns, and rural communities.

This expansion creates jobs in areas where employment opportunities may be more limited. The rural hiring push aligns with Amazon's logistics strategy of bringing fulfillment closer to customers in underserved markets.

Why Amazon Can Maintain Hiring

Several factors enable Amazon to sustain high seasonal hiring when competitors cannot:

E-commerce continues outperforming brick-and-mortar retail. Online shopping growth remains robust even as physical store traffic weakens, driving demand for warehouse and delivery workers.

Amazon's business model depends on speed and reliability. Maintaining service levels during peak season requires adequate staffing in fulfillment centers and last-mile delivery.

The company began onboarding new workers in early October, with hiring continuing through December as demand peaks around Black Friday and Christmas.

Labor-intensive logistics operations can't be fully automated yet. While Amazon uses extensive robotics and automation in warehouses, picking, packing, and delivering packages still require significant human labor.

The Broader Context

Amazon's hiring announcement comes despite cost-cutting in other divisions. Earlier this year, the company imposed a hiring freeze for parts of its retail and corporate business.

The contrast between aggressive seasonal hiring and corporate hiring freezes illustrates how Amazon prioritizes customer-facing operations over back-office functions.

Other major retailers announcing holiday hiring include Michaels, which plans to hire over 10,000 seasonal positions, and Catalyst Brands (parent of JCPenney and Aeropostale), aiming to add more than 13,000 seasonal team positions.

But these numbers pale compared to Amazon's quarter-million hires. The e-commerce giant is now the dominant force in seasonal retail employment, even as the overall market contracts.

For workers seeking holiday income, Amazon represents one of the few reliable large-scale opportunities as traditional retailers pull back. The $19-$23 per hour wages with benefits make positions competitive, though the work can be physically demanding.

The steady hiring pace highlights Amazon's crucial role in sustaining employment across retail and logistics sectors at a time when many competitors are scaling back.

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