Online retail giant Amazon recently announced that its India unit is planning to hire 50,000 temporary or seasonal employees in the country. The recent move by the company is a result of recently relaxed lockdown norms by the Government of India which allowed for the delivery of non-essential items in all zones except containment areas.
A sudden surge in the demand in the country will require for more employees to handle warehousing operations and make the deliveries. India has been under lockdown since March 25, and delivery of non-essential items by e-commerce companies was prohibited in the first three phases of the lockdown.
“We want to continue helping customers all over India get everything they need so they can continue to practice social distancing,” Amazon senior executive Akhil Saxena said in a statement on the company’s blog.
“(The move) will also keep as many people as possible working during this pandemic while providing a safe work environment for them,” said Saxena, Amazon’s VP for customer fulfillment operations in APAC, MENA & Latam.
Stressing over employee safety during such a health crisis, the company said that it has made almost 100 significant process changes in operations for the safety of workers which include mandatory face covering, daily temperature checks in buildings, increased frequency and intensity of cleaning at all sites including regular sanitization of frequently touched areas, and awareness-building among associates on safety requirements around hand-washing and hand sanitization.
The recent announcement from Amazon comes at a time when various other companies in the country have been forced to cut jobs as they try to tide over the health crisis. Recently, ride hailing companies Ola & Uber and food delivery companies Swiggy & Zomato, all have laid a significant number of employees.
In India, the Jeff Bezos-led company faces stiff competition from Walmart-owned Flipkart in the e-commerce sector. Amazon had earlier said that it plans to create 1mn jobs by 2025, and it would be worth noting if these temporary hires later get full time employment with the company. Recently, the company also launched its food delivery service, Amazon Food to take on the duopoly of Swiggy and Zomato in the country.
Meanwhile in other news, Amazon has pushed its annual global Prime Day event, traditionally a summer affair, to September as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
