Amazon now employees 1 in every 153 workers in the US

Amazon now employs one in every 153 workers in the US after hiring tens of thousands of new staff to meet demand during the pandemic.

The online behemoth now employs 1.3 million people worldwide, including 950,000 employees in the US, according to figures from Business Insider.

Currently in the US there are 145.8 million “nonfarm” payroll workers, which include every working citizen excluding proprietors, private household employees, volunteers, farm employees and the self-employed.

That means that one in every 153 employed workers in the US work for Amazon, alongside one in every 350 of America’s entire population.

This is more than the entire US residential construction industry employs, but is still considerably less than Amazon’s key rival Walmart, who employs 1.6 million people in the US (1 out of every 91 workers).

Since the start of the pandemic, Amazon has hired nearly 500,000 staff in the US and a around 20,000 in the UK.

Its hiring frenzy has been fuelled by the staggering growth in demand for online orders, but has also been aided by the retailers commitment to paying $15 per hour, double the US minimum wage.

However, according to figures from the New York Times, Amazon still has a turnover rate of 150 per cent leading executives to worry about running out of eligible workers.

From: chargedretail