With the easing of restrictions allowing non-essentials to function, Amazon India has announced that it will hire nearly 50,000 temporary workers to cope with surging demand from online shoppers for both essential and non-essential products.
These temporary associates will be assigned to work alongside the existing supply chain staff at the online marketplace by helping in packing and delivering the shipments to customers.
Country manager Amit Agarwal took to twitter to share that the additional workers would help Amazon “meet the surge in demand and to provide critical service in this difficult time.”
The nationwide shutdown had let to a sharp fall in the number of on-ground staff of ecommerce players due to widespread displacement of workers.
While there has been an improvement in fulfilment and delivery capabilities, e-commerce companies have been performing at sub-optimal levels.
The demand for products like smartphones, electronics products aiding remote working and studying, low-cost apparel, kitchen appliances and utensils is rising fast while that for large appliances such as dishwashers, vacuum cleaners and air conditioners is growing more slowly, said industry executives.
But according to market tracker Forrester Research, the overall sales for the industry is yet to reach the levels of 2019 when the sector scored around $33.5 billion in sales.
“We are creating work opportunities for close to 50,000 seasonal associates across our fulfilment and delivery network,” said Akhil Saxena, VP of Customer Fulfilment Operations, APAC, MENA & LATAM at Amazon India. These jobs will include part-time flexible work opportunities being offered through the American retailer’s newly launched Amazon Flex service, the company said.
Amazon has voiced that it will follow the same standards of well-being for on-ground workers it rolled out at the start of the pandemic, which comprises of hazard pay, increased sick leave, apart from measures such as mandatory wearing of masks, temperature checks and regular sanitation of warehouses and delivery hubs.
So far as India is concerned, Amazon India has nearly doubled the pay of delivery and warehouse workers, in line with what most of the industry has been offering over the past two months.
In its most recent earnings call, Amazon had said that it would spend a whopping $4 billion as a part of its Covid-19 response globally,hurting its chances of turning a profit in Q2. The company said it would spend $350 million to hire additional workers and increase their pay in order to compensate them for their services.
