Amazon said it hired some 200,000 full- and part-time workers worldwide to help its holiday operations to bring its global workforce to 750,000 (INA FASSBENDER)

Washington (AFP) – Amazon said Thursday it added some 250,000 employees to handle operations for “record” holiday sales for the online giant.

<p>The full and part-time seasonal employees were added in Amazon’s “fulfillment network,” the sprawling system of warehouses and delivery operations, according to the company, which now has a workforce of 750,000.</p><p>”This holiday season has been better than ever thanks to our customers and employees all around the world,” said chief executive and founder Jeff Bezos.</p><p>Amazon, which was already among the world’s largest private global employers behind Walmart, with more than two million workers, has been ramping up investment as it moves to offer one-day delivery on most sales.</p><p>The company did not indicate how many of the seasonal workers would remain after the holiday season.</p><p>The Amazon jobs figure excludes some 800 private delivery contractors who employ an estimated 75,000 drivers in the United States.</p><p>Amazon offered no specific sales figures for the holiday period but said it was “record-breaking” with “billions of items” ordered worldwide including tens of millions of Amazon-branded devices.</p><p>It said some of the best-selling products included its Alexa-powered electronics such as the Echo Dot smart speaker, Fire TV stick and video-enabled Echo Show 5.</p><p>While Amazon is best known for its dominant online retail service, but also has a major cloud computing platform and operates in streaming media, artificial intelligence along with brick-and-mortar grocery and book stores.</p><p>It has its own lineup of consumer electronics and other branded merchandise.</p><p>A major revenue driver for Amazon is the Prime membership service which includes free shipping for most items as well as streaming video, music and other perks.</p><p></p>

Disclaimer: Validity of the above story is for 7 Days from original date of publishing. Source: AFP.