MNI ANALYSIS: Amazon Jobs Day August 2 Offers 50,000 Positions

--Potential Skew for August Non-farm Payrolls

By Vicki Schmelzer

     NEW YORK (MNI)   - Job seekers were out in full force Wednesday, as they

made their way to employment fairs taking place at 10 Amazon fulfillment centers

located throughout the U.S.  

     Social media photos at the various locations show long lines and suggest a

strong turnout of prospective candidates interested in becoming Amazon

employees. 

     If Amazon hiring comes to fruition, there is potential skew for the August

non-farm payroll report, depending upon the worker start-date, analysts said. 

     Last week, Amazon announced that it had more than 50,000 positions to be

filled at the various fulfillment centers. 

     "For anyone who has ever been curious about what working at Amazon is like

and how the retailer fulfills customer orders at superfast speed, the company is

opening up 10 of its fulfillment centers on August 2 from 8 a.m. to noon local

time for its first Jobs Day with tours and information sessions," the press

release said. 

     Amazon intended to make "thousands of on-the-spot job offers to qualified

candidates who apply on-site as part of Amazon Jobs Day."

     More than 10,000 positions will be part-time, at Amazon sortation centers

in the U.S. 

     "These positions will sort and consolidate customer packages to enable

superfast shipping speeds and Sunday delivery for customers," the release said.

     But, the lion's share of Amazon's remaining hires, expected to be in the

"tens of thousands," will be for full-time positions, with the firm seeking

employees that will "pick, pack and ship customer orders."

     "These opportunities offer highly-competitive pay, health insurance,

disability insurance, retirement savings plans and company stock," Amazon said.

     Amazon Job Days were being held Wednesday, at fulfillment centers in

Baltimore, MD, Chattanooga, TN, Etna, OH, Fall River, MA,  Hebron, KY, Kenosha,

WI, Kent, WA, Robbinsville, NJ, Romeoville, IL, and Whitestown, IN. 

     In addition, Amazon was hosting off-site Jobs Day events from 8:00 a.m. ET

to noon local time in Buffalo, NY and Oklahoma City OK.

     One recruiter interviewed by this reporter for this month's REALITY CHECK

on the U.S. jobs market, which will run on MNI's Main Wire Thursday, mentioned

that some clients have voiced concern about losing workers to Amazon. 

     "We're losing a lot of candidates who are doing contract work for us or

right out of college doing some temp stuff for lower levels, getting hired by

Amazon," said Preet Kuar, Executive Recruiter and Business Development Manager

at Pacific Staffing in Sacramento, CA.

     The internet retailer recently announced plans to hire 1,500 new workers

for the Sacramento distribution center, she noted. 

     Clients were worried about workers being lured away by the Amazon brand,

Kuar said. 

     "Even though their benefits are lower, their pay's higher and it's kind of

cool to work for Amazon" is the thinking, she said. 

     In June and July alone, Amazon announced plans to create between 1,000 to

1,500 new jobs at fulfillment centers in such places as Jefferson, GA, North

Haven, CT, Troutdale, OR, Salt Lake City, UT and Orlando, FL. 

     When asked by MNI about possible effect on the August non-farm payroll

report, due out Sept. 1, Jennifer Lee, economist at BMO Capital Markets, noted,

"They are making on-the-spot offers, but only if they start right away will we

see an impact." 

     Workers would be counted, only if they are "paid during the survey period,"

she said. 

     The Amazon Job Day taking place Wednesday could have an impact on the

August jobs report "although I suspect not to the degree of 50k," Jim

O'Sullivan, U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics in Valhalla, NY, told

MNI.

     First, "there would be some background checks etc. that would delay the

first paycheck for many until after the August sample weeks," he said. 

     And second, "some hires may just be quitting another job," O'Sullivan said.

--MNI New York Bureau; tel: +1 212-669-6438; email: vicki.schmelzer@marketnews.com

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