Amazon hires 300,000 for the holidays: first increase in three years

Amazon said on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, that it plans to hire more than 300,000 people for seasonal, part-time and full-time roles across its US operations network for the holiday period. Reuters reports that this is the company’s first increase in holiday recruiting in three years, after Amazon held its seasonal intake at roughly 250,000 in each of the previous three seasons. The announcement lands in the same week that the National Retail Federation forecast a cautious hiring season for retail overall, and after UPS and Dick’s Sporting Goods both cut their seasonal targets.

The headline number is only half the story. Amazon paired the hiring plan with a structural change to its benefits: from January 1, 2027, eligible seasonal staff working at least 30 hours a week get healthcare coverage from their first day, on the same plans as full-time employees. That moves the competition for warehouse and delivery labor away from the hourly rate alone and toward the total package, at a moment when most large retailers are trying to get through peak with fewer net-new hires.

What exactly did Amazon announce on October 20?

According to a company statement distributed via Business Wire from Seattle, Amazon will fill “over 300,000” seasonal, part-time and full-time roles across its US core operations network, the fulfillment centers, sortation centers and delivery stations that move customer orders. The company did not break the figure down by role type or by state. New openings will be posted weekly from October through December, so the total is a season-long target rather than a single hiring wave.

Reuters, which first framed the number against prior years, says Amazon has employed about 250,000 seasonal workers in each of the past three holiday seasons. CBS News and Quartz put the increase at about 20% year on year, which matches that base. The Wall Street Journal and Fox Business carried the same top-line figure, so the core claim is well corroborated across independent outlets.

The announcement was accompanied by a blog post from J. Ofori Agboka, Amazon’s vice president of people experience and technology for global operations. His published remarks are framed around the holiday experience for staff, opening with the line “The holidays are my favorite time of year at Amazon.” The company did not publish a target for how many seasonal workers it expects to convert to permanent roles.

Which roles are covered?

Amazon describes the openings as seasonal, part-time and full-time positions in its US operations network. Listings sampled by CBS News on the day of the announcement show the range in practice: a Locker+ retail associate role in Jackson, Wyoming, at $21.50 to $22 an hour with up to a $3,000 signing bonus; a delivery station warehouse associate in Danbury, Connecticut, at $21 to $23.50; and a robotics warehouse associate in Omaha, Nebraska, at $20.25 to $22.75.

Equipment roles pay more. CBS News lists a warehouse equipment operator in Easton, Pennsylvania, at $21.25 to $23.75 an hour and an XL warehouse equipment operator in Huntley, Illinois, at $22 to $24.50. The spread between a base associate and an equipment operator in the same network is roughly $1 to $2 an hour, which is the premium Amazon pays for forklift and powered-equipment certification at peak.

The company directs job seekers to amazon.com/localjobs and to a text alert service: texting NEWJOB to 31432 registers a phone for local job notifications. Because postings refresh weekly until December, applicants who miss an opening in October can still be placed in a later wave. Benefits details sit on the company’s hiring site rather than in the release itself.

Why is this the first increase in three years?

Amazon’s holiday hiring peaked during the pandemic e-commerce surge and then flattened as the company built out a regionalized fulfillment network and added automation. Holding the target near 250,000 for three straight seasons signaled that Amazon believed it could absorb volume growth through productivity rather than headcount. A 20% jump breaks that pattern.

The company has not given a reason beyond meeting customer demand, and it has not said whether the extra hires are tied to specific new sites. Three plausible drivers are visible in the public record. First, the demand forecast: the NRF expects holiday sales growth of 4.2% this year, faster than the 3.1% it measured in 2025. Second, Amazon’s push into faster grocery and same-day delivery, which is more labor-intensive per order than standard parcel fulfillment. Third, the timing of the healthcare change, which suggests Amazon is planning to keep a larger share of this cohort on the books into 2027.

None of those drivers is confirmed by the company as the reason for the increase. They are, however, consistent with the other labor moves Amazon has made this autumn, including the September pay increase covered below. Taken together they point to a company that expects to be busier per worker than its peers, not a company hedging against a soft season.

Does the number conflict with Amazon’s corporate cuts?

Not directly. Earlier this month Amazon was reported to be cutting fewer than 1,000 corporate roles in its Stores division, concentrated in customer service and selling partner support. Those are salaried corporate positions, while the holiday hiring is for hourly operations roles. The two moves sit in different parts of the company’s cost base and are not substitutes for each other.

The contrast still matters for how investors read the announcement. Amazon is trimming overhead in its retail organization while adding frontline capacity, a pattern that implies it sees the constraint for the fourth quarter in physical throughput rather than in management layers. That reading is an inference from the two disclosures, not a stated company position.

How much will Amazon’s seasonal workers earn?

Amazon says seasonal employees will earn an average of $20 an hour. Full-time employees in its US core operations start at a minimum of $20 an hour, and average hourly pay across those roles is “nearly $24,” according to the company. Including benefits, Amazon says average total compensation for full-time staff exceeds $32 an hour.

The $20 floor is new this autumn. Amazon announced in September that it would raise minimum pay to $20 an hour for eligible full-time US operations staff, a change that took effect on September 27, 2026, and that the company says represents more than $1.5 billion in higher pay. TechCrunch described the move as a $1-an-hour increase, and pay-tracking sites put the previous minimum at $19.

For a rough sense of scale, a simple illustration helps. If 300,000 seasonal workers averaged $20 an hour for 30 hours a week over an eight-week peak, the wage bill alone would be about $1.44 billion. That figure is arithmetic on the company’s published averages, not an Amazon disclosure, and actual hours, tenure and overtime will move it in either direction.

Item	2025 holiday season	2026 holiday season	Source
US holiday hiring target	About 250,000	More than 300,000	Reuters; Amazon statement
Full-time starting minimum (operations)	About $19 an hour	$20 an hour (from Sept 27, 2026)	Company; TechCrunch; pay trackers
Seasonal average hourly pay	Not restated in this release	$20 an hour	Amazon statement
Full-time average hourly pay	Not restated in this release	Nearly $24 an hour	Amazon statement
Seasonal healthcare	Not offered from day one	Day one from Jan 1, 2027 (30+ hrs/week)	Amazon statement
Grocery discount	None at this level	10% online, 20% in Whole Foods stores, uncapped	Amazon statement

What changes with day-one healthcare in 2027?

The most significant structural change in the announcement is the healthcare rule. Starting January 1, 2027, eligible seasonal employees who work at least 30 hours a week receive healthcare coverage from their first day, on the same terms as regular full-time employees. Plans start at $5 a week with $5 copays, according to the company.

There is a timing detail that matters for this season’s cohort. Seasonal workers hired before January 1 are covered from that date, not from their actual start date in October, November or December. In practice, a worker hired for Black Friday who stays on into January will pick up coverage at the turn of the year, while a worker who leaves after the December peak will not.

Amazon says full-time employees have had day-one healthcare “for several years.” Extending it to seasonal staff closes one of the main gaps between temporary and permanent work in its network. It also gives seasonal workers a concrete reason to stay into the January returns peak, when labor is typically hardest to keep.

Why does the 30-hour threshold matter?

The 30-hour line mirrors the full-time definition used for employer health coverage under the Affordable Care Act, which counts employees averaging 30 or more hours a week. By aligning seasonal eligibility to the same threshold, Amazon avoids creating a separate class of coverage rules for temporary workers. Part-time seasonal staff below 30 hours remain outside the new provision.

For rivals, the threshold sets a reference point. A retailer or carrier competing for the same warehouse labor in the same metro area now has to decide whether to match day-one coverage for seasonal hires, or compete only on hourly pay and signing bonuses. None of the major peers had announced a matching policy as of Tuesday.

What else is in the benefits package?

Amazon highlighted several additions it made earlier in October. Eligible employees get an uncapped 10% discount on eligible groceries and essentials bought on Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market online, and an uncapped 20% discount in Whole Foods stores, including the hot bar and salad bar. The company says these discounts can be combined with Prime savings.

The second addition is Day 1 Financial, a low-cost banking program run with First Tech Federal Credit Union. According to the company, qualified employees, their spouses and their children can keep the membership for life. Access begins rolling out in late 2026 and becomes broadly available in 2027.

Existing benefits remain in place: a free Prime membership, Career Choice prepaid tuition of up to $5,250 a year, a 401(k) plan with a company match, paid parental leave, and round-the-clock mental health support through Resources for Living. Several of these, including tuition, typically carry tenure requirements that seasonal staff may not meet within a single peak.

• Healthcare: day one from January 1, 2027, for seasonal staff working 30+ hours a week.
• Groceries: 10% off online, 20% off in Whole Foods stores, with no cap.
• Banking: Day 1 Financial via First Tech Federal Credit Union, rolling out from late 2026.
• Education: Career Choice prepaid tuition up to $5,250 a year.
• Retirement: 401(k) with company match.

How does Amazon’s plan compare with UPS, Target and Dick’s?

Amazon is moving in the opposite direction from most of the large employers that have published 2026 targets. UPS said on October 7 that it plans to hire about 100,000 seasonal workers, which Reuters says is roughly 9% fewer than last year and the second straight annual reduction. UPS is also in the middle of a restructuring that includes cutting up to 30,000 operational jobs and closing 24 facilities in 2026 as it reduces the volume it handles for Amazon.

Dick’s Sporting Goods said on October 19 that it plans to hire more than 11,000 seasonal workers across its brands, about 20% fewer than last year, according to Retail Dive. That total splits into about 8,400 hires for Dick’s Sporting Goods, House of Sport, Going Going Gone and Public Lands stores, and about 2,900 for Foot Locker, Kids Foot Locker, WSS and Champs Sports in North America. The company sought 14,000 store associates for the 2025 holiday season.

Target has not published a national total for 2026. Local reports show it hiring about 2,300 seasonal staff in metro Atlanta at $15 to $24 an hour, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and about 2,000 across the San Francisco Bay Area. Target says it fills holiday hours first from current staff and its On Demand pool, then from roughly 43,000 flexible workers, before adding seasonal hires market by market. Walmart has likewise not announced a national seasonal target, and reports indicate it is relying on existing associates and extra hours instead of a separate campaign.

Employer	2026 seasonal plan	Change vs 2025	Announced
Amazon (US operations)	More than 300,000	About +20% (from ~250,000)	October 20
UPS	About 100,000	About -9%, second straight cut	October 7
Dick’s Sporting Goods (incl. Foot Locker)	More than 11,000	About -20% (from 14,000)	October 19
Target	No national figure; local targets only	Not disclosed	Local reports from October 8
Walmart	No national seasonal target reported	Not disclosed	n/a
US retail industry (NRF forecast)	325,000 to 375,000	Flat vs ~356,000 estimate	October 15
US retail industry (Challenger forecast)	About 450,000 in Q4	About -2.5% vs 461,500	October

Is Amazon’s figure comparable with the industry forecasts?

Only loosely. The NRF and Challenger, Gray & Christmas measure seasonal hiring in retail trade, based on government employment categories, while Amazon’s 300,000 covers its operations network, which includes warehousing and transportation roles that the statistics may classify outside retail. The company figure also includes part-time and full-time hires, not only temporary seasonal staff. Readers should not divide Amazon’s number by the NRF range to estimate a market share of holiday hiring.

The direction of travel is the more useful comparison. Every large employer with a published 2026 number other than Amazon is flat or down, and both industry forecasts sit at or near their lowest levels in more than a decade. Last year’s Challenger count of 461,500 was already the lowest since 2008, according to the firm.

What does the NRF forecast say about holiday demand?

The National Retail Federation forecast on October 15 that retail sales in November and December will rise 4.2% from 2025 to about $1.013 trillion. If the forecast holds, the season would cross the $1 trillion mark for the first time. The NRF definition excludes automobile dealers, gasoline stations and restaurants.

The trade group’s track record argues for some caution. Last year it forecast growth of 3.7% to 4.2%, and the season finished at 3.1%, or $972 billion, below the bottom of that range. NRF chief economist Mark Mathews said higher gasoline prices would weigh most on lower-income households, telling reporters “we do expect that this will have a larger impact on households at the lower end of the income spectrum.”

On hiring, the NRF expects retailers to add between 325,000 and 375,000 seasonal workers, compared with an estimated 356,000 last year and 442,000 in 2024. Mathews described the labor market as a “low hire, low fire environment,” Retail Dive reports. That framing captures why Amazon’s increase stands out: the forecast implies rising sales with flat staffing across retail as a whole.

Why are other retailers holding back?

The NRF attributes the caution to higher gas prices, persistent inflation, higher interest rates and elevated consumer debt. Challenger has noted that retailers are leaning on automation, existing associates and on-demand worker pools before hiring net-new seasonal staff. Target’s tiered approach, filling hours internally first, is a clear example of that model in practice.

There is also a calendar factor. Retailers pulled spending forward this year with October events, and industry surveys suggest a meaningful share of holiday budgets is spent before November. Amazon’s own Prime Big Deal Days on October 6 and 7 drew counter-events from Walmart and Target, which spreads peak volume across more weeks and reduces the need for a single large staffing spike in late November.

What does this mean for shipping and delivery capacity?

Amazon’s larger intake shows where it expects volume to land: in its own network rather than with third-party carriers. UPS has spent 2026 deliberately shrinking its Amazon business, and its smaller seasonal target reflects lower expected parcel counts from that customer. Amazon, by contrast, is staffing up the delivery stations and sortation centers that handle volume it no longer sends to UPS.

For merchants selling on Amazon, a better-staffed network should mean fewer capacity constraints on inbound and outbound shipments at peak, though the company has not changed its published inventory or cutoff policies in this announcement. For merchants shipping through UPS, FedEx and the US Postal Service, the picture is more mixed. Carriers have already raised peak surcharges this season, and analysis of peak 2026 parcel costs outrunning the 5.9% general rate increase suggests the cost of shipping during the busiest weeks will rise faster than headline rates imply.

Smaller retailers that rely on regional carriers or postal services face a different constraint. They compete for the same pool of warehouse labor as Amazon in many metro areas, and a $20 average seasonal wage plus day-one healthcare from January sets a floor that third-party logistics providers may have to match to keep pickers and packers through the season.

How are rivals responding on price and membership?

Amazon’s announcement came on the same day that Walmart made a pricing move aimed at Prime. Walmart began selling a combined Walmart+ and Sam’s Club Plus membership for $120 a year, Retail Dive reports, nearly $100 less than buying the two memberships separately. The bundle includes members-only prices on some items, 2% Sam’s Cash at Sam’s Club, free delivery from both retailers, a Peacock or Paramount+ streaming subscription, and 10 cents a gallon in fuel savings at more than 17,000 stations.

Prime costs $139 a year, according to Brett Rose, founder and chief executive of United National Consumer Suppliers, quoted by Retail Dive. Walmart operates 4,615 Walmart stores and more than 600 Sam’s Clubs in the US, which gives the bundle a physical footprint that Amazon matches only through Whole Foods and its smaller grocery formats. Gas prices above $4 a gallon in most of the country make the fuel discount a more visible selling point than in prior years.

Membership	Annual price	Delivery	Notable extras
Amazon Prime	$139	Free shipping on eligible items	Streaming video, Prime-exclusive deal events, Whole Foods discounts
Walmart+ and Sam’s Club Plus bundle	$120	Free delivery from both retailers	2% Sam’s Cash, Peacock or Paramount+, 10 cents/gal fuel savings

The two announcements address different parts of the same contest. Walmart is competing for the shopper’s annual membership fee; Amazon is competing for the labor that turns that membership into fast delivery during the busiest weeks of the year. Both moves point to a peak season in which delivery speed, rather than price alone, is the main battleground between the two largest US retailers.

What should shoppers, sellers and job seekers watch next?

For job seekers, the practical window runs from now through December, with postings refreshed weekly. Workers deciding between offers should compare not only hourly rates but whether a role crosses the 30-hour threshold that triggers Amazon’s January healthcare coverage. Signing bonuses, like the $3,000 attached to the Jackson, Wyoming, listing, tend to cluster in hard-to-staff locations.

For investors and analysts, the next data points are the NRF’s forecast webinar on October 28 and Amazon’s third-quarter results, where management commentary on fourth-quarter operating costs will show how much of the hiring and benefit expansion is priced into guidance. The Bureau of Labor Statistics monthly employment reports for November and December will show whether retail and warehousing payrolls track the NRF’s flat forecast or Amazon’s more aggressive stance.

For sellers, the main question is whether a better-staffed Amazon network translates into faster inbound processing and fewer peak restrictions on fulfillment by Amazon inventory. Earlier analysis suggested that the 2026 seasonal hiring low likely overstates the decline because retailers shift work to existing staff and gig pools. Amazon’s 300,000 figure is the clearest signal yet that at least one of the largest employers in US retail has chosen to hire its way through peak instead.

Frequently asked questions

How many holiday workers is Amazon hiring in 2026?

Amazon says it will hire more than 300,000 people for seasonal, part-time and full-time roles across its US operations network for the 2026 holiday season. Reuters reports this is up from about 250,000 in each of the previous three years, an increase of roughly 20%.

How much does Amazon pay seasonal workers?

According to the company, seasonal employees earn an average of $20 an hour. Individual listings vary by location and role; examples published by CBS News range from $20.25 an hour for a robotics warehouse associate in Omaha to $24.50 an hour for an XL equipment operator in Huntley, Illinois.

Do Amazon seasonal workers get health insurance?

From January 1, 2027, eligible seasonal employees who work at least 30 hours a week get healthcare coverage from their first day, on the same plans as full-time staff. Plans start at $5 a week with $5 copays. Seasonal workers hired before January 1 are covered starting on that date.

How do I apply for an Amazon holiday job?

Amazon directs applicants to amazon.com/localjobs. Job seekers can also text NEWJOB to 31432 to sign up for local job alerts. New positions are posted weekly from October through December.

What is Amazon’s minimum starting pay in 2026?

Full-time employees in Amazon’s US core operations start at a minimum of $20 an hour, following a raise that took effect on September 27, 2026. The company says average hourly pay for these roles is nearly $24 and average total compensation, including benefits, exceeds $32 an hour.

Are other retailers hiring fewer holiday workers this year?

Yes, among those that have published targets. UPS plans to hire about 100,000, roughly 9% fewer than last year, and Dick’s Sporting Goods plans more than 11,000, about 20% fewer. Target and Walmart have not announced national totals. The NRF expects 325,000 to 375,000 seasonal retail hires overall, broadly flat with last year.

What is the NRF holiday sales forecast for 2026?

The National Retail Federation forecasts November and December retail sales will grow 4.2% to about $1.013 trillion, excluding auto dealers, gas stations and restaurants. Last year sales grew 3.1% to $972 billion, below the NRF’s forecast range.

What new perks did Amazon add for warehouse workers?

Amazon added an uncapped 10% discount on eligible groceries bought online at Amazon.com and Whole Foods Market and 20% in Whole Foods stores, plus Day 1 Financial, a banking program with First Tech Federal Credit Union that rolls out from late 2026. Existing benefits include free Prime, prepaid tuition up to $5,250 a year, a 401(k) match and paid parental leave.