By Tonya Garcia, MarketWatch
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Amazon.com Inc. said Thursday that it plans to add 100,000 full-time, full-benefit jobs across the U.S. over the next 18 months, many of which will be at fulfillment centers that are currently under construction.
The additions will be across a variety of roles, the company /zigman2/quotes/210331248/composite AMZN -4.25% said, from software developers and engineers to entry-level positions. It has previously announced new fulfillment centers in a number of states including Texas, California and New Jersey.
See also: Amazon’s aggressive warehouse and shipping strategy is paying off
In Texas, for instance, 1,000 new full-time jobs will be created at a new Houston location. There are also hundreds of job openings at the company’s Austin corporate office where 500 associates work, the company said.
In California, the company announced four new fulfillment centers, which will bring 4,000 new jobs.
And in Florida, two new fulfillment centers will add to the nine existing locations, which includes fulfillment and sortation centers. These additional facilities will add more than 6,500 jobs to the workforce.
The average fulfillment associate annual salary is $24,000, according to the latest figures from Glassdoor.
Amazon had 180,000 U.S. full-time workers in 2016, the company said. The additions will bring the total to 280,000 by 2018.
Retailers like Macy’s Inc. /zigman2/quotes/201854387/composite M +1.95% and Sears Holdings Corp. have recently announced store closures that will result in job losses. And on Thursday, Nordstrom Inc. /zigman2/quotes/203902116/composite JWN +4.92% said it will close its store in Mainplace Mall in Santa, Ana, CA., impacting about 195 non-seasonal workers.
Read also: Macy’s and Kohl’s still struggling to come to grips with e-commerce and the Amazon effect
See also: Sears is ‘one sick puppy,’ and there may be no remedy
Amazon Plans to Create 100,000 Jobs in U.S.
Amazon says it plans to add more than 100,000 full-time jobs in the U.S. over the next 18 months. WSJ's Laura Stevens and Tanya Rivero discuss what's behind the move and what kind of positions will be created. Photo: AP
Amazon said that its Marketplace is the “indirect” creator of 300,000 jobs for those who have started or are growing these businesses by selling on the e-commerce giant’s site. Last year, more than 100,000 sellers generated more than $100,000 each in sales, the company said.
The company attributes this same sort of job and sales creation to its Kindle Direct Publishing feature, which allows users to self-publish books, Amazon Web Services, and the Amazon Flex program, which gives people the chance to earn up to $25 per hour delivering Amazon packages.
Earlier this week Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/201948298/composite BABA -1.64% promised something similar: 1 million new U.S. jobs by helping small businesses. However, the number of actual full-time jobs these sorts of marketplaces create are small, MarketWatch found.
See also: Alibaba promises Trump 1 million jobs, but don’t believe it
Read also: Is Amazon’s new credit card for Prime members worth it?
In addition to jobs, Amazon says 9,000 of its employees are taking advantage of the Career Choice program, which prepays for 95% of course tuition, whether the person uses those skills to work for Amazon or elsewhere.
Company benefits include up to 20 weeks of paid leave and Ramp Back for new moms to manage when they return to work.
Amazon shares closed Thursday up 1.8%, and shares are up 31.7% for the past year. The S&P 500 index /zigman2/quotes/210599714/realtime SPX -0.38% s up 17.1% for the last 12 months.
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