Amazon, the world’s largest online retailer, announced yesterday that it plans to hire 5,000 new full-time “fulfillment associates” at 17 warehouses around the country, along with 2,000 new workers in its customer-service department.
Amazon needs these low-wage workers to meet the rapid growth in fulfillment centers to deliver all the toys, clothes and high-definition. According to news reports, the company says the jobs pay about $11 an hour – not quite about the poverty line for a family of four and therefore cannot be considered good middle-class jobs.
Although the company provides full-time employees with stock shares after years on the job, a matching 401(K) and health insurance, it has also taken a hit from complaints that its fulfillment associates endure unpleasant, unhealthy and even Orwellian conditions, bloomberg.com reports.
The Seattle, Washington-headquartered company will bring some of those low-wage jobs to Florida when it establishes a set of warehouses in the state next year.
It is ironic that President Barack Obama, who is running around the country making speeches on the economy, chose an Amazon warehouse in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Tuesday, to talk about growing the middle class and good middle-class jobs. It certainly won’t happen with “fulfillment associates” and “customer-service” representatives.
The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that by 2020, two-thirds of all jobs will be in occupations that do not require a college degree.
