SAN BERNARDINO, OCTOBER 29: Employees arrive at Amazon's San Bernardino Fulfillment Center October 29, 2013 in San Bernardino, California. Amazon's 1 million-square-foot facility in the economically hard-hit San Bernardino County has created more than 800 jobs at the center. Fulfillment centers are where products sold by other vendors on Amazon.com store their inventory. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Amazon’s high turnover rate reportedly has its executives shook and now they’re allegedly worried they’re running out of people to hire!
According to a new report published by the New York Times, Amazon has been hiring hundreds of thousands of workers for roles in its warehouses, which the company refers to as fulfillment centers, but those employees have been quitting almost as fast as they can be hired.
The report said many of the 350,000-plus workers Amazon hired between the months of July and October only stayed with the company “just days or weeks,” according to Business Insider.
Hourly employees had a turnover rate of about 150% every year, according to data obtained by The Times. That’s the number that apparently led some of the company’s executives to worry about running out of hirable employees in America, according to the report.
It’s no surprise that Amazon went on a hiring spree in 2020 as the company attempted to keep up with demand brought on by coronavirus-related lockdowns. Millions of Americans were turning to Amazon and other online retailers to stock up on essentials while playing it safe at home.
The hiring demand at Amazon hit a peak in May when the company was offering $1,000 signing bonuses to new employees, which is somewhat indicative of the hiring issues the retail giant has been facing.
One former Amazon manager who oversaw human-resources efforts focused on warehouse workers compared the high turnover situation at warehouses to the use of fossil fuels.
“We keep using them, even though we know we’re slowly cooking ourselves,” he told The Times.
Earlier this month, we reported Amazon will no longer screen employees for marijuana use in an effort to improve the company’s retention rate.
Reps for Amazon have not spoken publicly about the The Times report, though. We’ll keep you posted on this one.
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