Amazon's plan to recruit more than 300,000 U.S. holiday workers puts a sharper focus on benefits timing: expanded health coverage for qualifying seasonal employees will begin Jan. 1, 2027, after the peak shopping months.
Seasonal employees must work at least 30 hours a week to qualify, Amazon said. Those already employed before Jan. 1 will gain access that day. Workers hired on or after Jan. 1, 2027, will have access from their first day. Plan options will start at $5 a week, with $5 copays.
Amazon's 2024 holiday hiring announcement described health coverage for seasonal workers after 90 days of employment. The expanded terms announced this year will not take effect during the November and December shopping period.
Amazon announced its new hiring target Oct. 20. It had set a target of 250,000 holiday positions in each of 2023, 2024 and 2025, making the 2026 goal more than 50,000 higher. All four figures are hiring plans, rather than completed hiring totals. This year's target spans seasonal, part-time and full-time jobs across the company's U.S. operations network.
Amazon said seasonal employees earn an average of $20 an hour. Full-time core operations jobs carry a minimum starting wage of $20 an hour, while hourly pay across the core operations workforce averages nearly $24. The company announced more than $1.5 billion in higher pay for U.S. core operations workers in September.
The National Retail Federation forecasts $1.013 trillion in U.S. retail sales for November and December, a 4.2% increase from a year earlier. National Retail Federation chief economist Mark Mathews said inflation and higher gasoline prices would affect households differently across income groups.
A broader retail hiring forecast estimates about 450,000 jobs will be added across the sector in the fourth quarter, down from 461,500 a year earlier. That industry estimate measures employment growth, while Amazon's figure is a company hiring target. Amazon said it will post openings weekly through December.
