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Amazon Reaches New High Of 268,900 Employees -- Skyrocketing 47% In Just One Year (geekwire.com)

Posted by msmash on from the growing-trend dept.

Amazon remains one of the biggest attractors of talent worldwide. During its quarterly earnings, the company said it hired 23,700 employees in the second quarter -- making the total employee headcount at the company 268,900. GeekWire reports: Amazon's headcount has grown by a staggering amount over the last few years. Its employment numbers increased close to 10 percent in the last three months and 47 percent over a year ago, when its employee count stood at a paltry-by-comparison 183,100 people. That's an increase of 85,800 employees in one year -- more than the entire city of Bellingham, Wash.Related: The New York Times report on work challenges at Amazon.

44 comments

  1. Instant Deleivery by npslider · · Score: 1

    With that many employees you would think that they could dispatch a driver to personally deliver my package to my door!

    If it's not there in 30 minutes it's FREE!

    Hey, I can dream right?

    1. Re:Instant Deleivery by lgw · · Score: 3, Informative

      With that many employees you would think that they could dispatch a driver to personally deliver my package to my door!

      That's called "Prime Now" in a few cities, which is mostly for food delivery (including pizza), but I think you can get some other stuff (I know you can get beer).

      In Seattle where you can get Sunday delivery, the packages I've had delivered Sunday came somewhat like pizza - some guy in a beater car drove up, left the package on my doorstep, rang the bell, and drove off. (I'd bet he was carrying more than just my package, but it wasn't a delivery van or anything). Same day delivery seems to be a third party delivery service, though.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    2. Re:Instant Deleivery by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      With that many employees you would think that they could dispatch a driver to personally deliver my package to my door!

      Amazon driver couldn't find my friend's apartment, delivered it to another apartment, and Amazon refused to have the driver go back to retrieve the wrongly delivered package.

      If it's not there in 30 minutes it's FREE!

      My friend wanted a replacement package sent immediately. Amazon gave him a refund instead.

      Hey, I can dream right?

      Amazon's delivery service is a joke. That's why I have post office box to send all my packages to. That doesn't prevent a postal clerk from misplacing a package for two weeks (on average).

    3. Re:Instant Deleivery by npslider · · Score: 1

      Can I get an extra large pepperoni with extra cheese and mushrooms?

    4. Re:Instant Deleivery by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Amazon's delivery service is a joke. That's why I have post office box to send all my packages to. That doesn't prevent a postal clerk from misplacing a package for two weeks (on average).

      I have a UPS Store mailbox for this very reason along with security when I am not home to collect the mail daily.

    5. Re:Instant Deleivery by npslider · · Score: 1

      I know many people who live in neighborhoods that may "claim" your package at your doorstep for you, thus they opt for the PO Box route.

      I have never had that problem, I think a package was mistakenly delivered to my neighbor once by USPS but my neighbor gave it to me.

    6. Re:Instant Deleivery by jratcliffe · · Score: 2

      In NYC, they've hired the USPS to do Sunday deliveries, just for Amazon packages. Weird to see a USPS truck with the back filled entirely with Amazon boxes. The USPS gets the extra revenue, the employees that want it get overtime, and people get their packages on Sunday. Pretty slick.

    7. Re:Instant Deleivery by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No but you could get deez nuts. Sorry you set yourself up.

    8. Re:Instant Deleivery by konohitowa · · Score: 1

      Phoenix has the same service. In our case, I think it's partly because we have a number of Amazon shipping centers (warehouses). That + population.

    9. Re:Instant Deleivery by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Damn near everything at Amazon is 3rd party now. They Jack up the prices so high that's just cheaper to shop locally.

  2. Most are warehouse employees by FireballX301 · · Score: 1

    Relevant quote

    >“If you look at non-ops related employees — essentially everyone else — that growth rate, while strong, is below our revenue growth rate, so we are seeing some leverage,” he said.

    Outside of Seattle, Amazon resembles the backend of Wal-mart more than anything else.

    1. Re:Most are warehouse employees by npslider · · Score: 1

      This makes sense given that the stated goal of Amazon as said by Jeff Bezos is to create an online store that can sell everything to everyone. That's going to require a whole lot of people!

    2. Re:Most are warehouse employees by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Only in the short term. In the medium term most warehouse employees will be automated away. Amazon bought Kiva Systems for a reason. https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
      This stuff from Amazon, and similar systems form competitors, is starting to get adopted on a massive scale. And not only at Amazon btw, although there business is specifically suited for systems like these.

      And after that there will be this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    3. Re:Most are warehouse employees by ranton · · Score: 2

      Outside of Seattle, Amazon resembles the backend of Wal-mart more than anything else.

      Oh yes, because only software engineers need jobs in this country. People stocking shelves hardly even count as human beings I guess.

      --
      -- All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. -- Edmund Burke
    4. Re:Most are warehouse employees by npslider · · Score: 1

      Walmart will sure be different.

      Robo-greeter: "Good afternoon sir, how can I help you?"

      Me: "Siri, show me where the iPhone 9 is sold"

    5. Re:Most are warehouse employees by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Most are warehouse grunts and the rest are in INDIA. Yet all profits are reported in Ireland.

      Amazon hates America!!

    6. Re:Most are warehouse employees by rwa2 · · Score: 1

      Read some expose on the warehouse work explaining how not great those jobs are.

      Watched the Kiva Systems video. Doesn't look like they do all that much, they merely bring the shelves to the people, instead of making the people powerwalk out to the shelves. This allows them to pack the shelving more efficiently in warehouses, and will likely cut down a lot on workplace injuries. But doesn't seem like it will cut down all that drastically on the number of workers needed, they still need to grab and pack the shit.

  3. Can we retire 'skyrocketing' please? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can we at least reserve it for doubling or greater?

    47% is 'growing by just under half'.

    1. Re:Can we retire 'skyrocketing' please? by MillionthMonkey · · Score: 1

      Hey, 85,800 jobs isn't too bad. That's 40 times as many people as the number of Syrian refugees in the U.S.

  4. But... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    How many of these are just cheap Chinese knockoff employees?

  5. And how much of those people make more than 30k/yr by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Can we even call them employees?

  6. Game developer friend just left Amazon by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Quantity != Quality.

    A game developer friend of mine just left Amazon for greener pastures. There are many reasons he left but the two biggest were:

    * Compensation for good work is lacking,
    * Amazon still uses stack ranking.

    I asked him about this Amazon piece and he sadly agreed with it:

    http://www.geekwire.com/2015/o...

    So yeah, that's great Amazon is on a hiring spree for now. What's the turn over rate going to be in 1 - 5 years?
    How many people will enjoy what they are working on in 2+ years?

    --
    "Show me your code and I'll guess at your data,
    Show me your data and I'll know your code."

    1. Re:Game developer friend just left Amazon by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 0

      No, I have not read the article. However, keep in mind, employees to Amazon are like potentially expanding or reducing your networking on a "cloud" system, they need them now, they lay them off later. Boeing has been doing this with worker bees for 20 years. Here today, gone tomorrow . A job at Amazon is no better than a job in a lonesome boiler-room call center. Oh, it's a job, it's job for sure, and people need jobs. But since we became a "consumer society" (that's a society that does nothing but consume), we better get used to "being the product", and being Jeff Bezo's nigger. And dropping fry baskets.

      --
      If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
    2. Re:Game developer friend just left Amazon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One talented friend of mine left Amazon, but had nothing but good things to say about it. He says it really depends what team you're on.

      Another guy I worked with previously left Amazon, came to join the company I was at, then went back to Amazon. I'm sure he was smart (MIT grad) but he completely sucked as a software engineer.

    3. Re:Game developer friend just left Amazon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      What's the turn over rate going to be in 1 - 5 years?

      Amazon is definitely not thinking that long term. My roommate works there, and at least in his department if a developer lasts 13 months before quitting, it is considered a success. They burn people out with Seattle hundreds then just hire replacements when people eventually quit. I only make it four months since my wife lost our baby, and I wanted a week off and was denied.

    4. Re:Game developer friend just left Amazon by plopez · · Score: 2

      I was going to make a comment about "The Mythical Man-Month", which applies to more than just software. The management complexity is going to increase dramatically. It will be interesting to see if they hit the wall soon.

      --
      putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
    5. Re:Game developer friend just left Amazon by tjhayes · · Score: 2

      You're really comparing apples and oranges. The overwhelming majority of the jobs that the article talks about amazon creating are low level warehouse jobs. Their volume has gown by leaps and bounds over the past few years and they need more folks to pack and ship those boxes.

    6. Re:Game developer friend just left Amazon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A game developer friend of mine just left Amazon for greener pastures.

      OK I'll bite, why was a game developer working at Amazon in the first place? Since when do they make games?

    7. Re:Game developer friend just left Amazon by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 2

      Yup, I know most people go "What? Amazon makes game??"

      Yes, for a few years actually.

      They have a game studio:
      * https://games.amazon.com/

      And they recently (back in Feb, 2016) open sourced their AAA engine, Lumberyard, which is based on CryEngine. (See the FAQ)
      * https://aws.amazon.com/lumbery...

      Their AWS (Amazon Web Services) is used by game devs:
      * https://aws.amazon.com/gaming/

      My friend was actually in a non-gaming section, but they hire game devs due to their experience and mind set of solving technical problems.

    8. Re:Game developer friend just left Amazon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think their solution is to organize their teams as if they were a bunch of small startup companies. It's a lot like scaling up a web site by throwing more servers at the problem, another area that Amazon excels at.

    9. Re:Game developer friend just left Amazon by plopez · · Score: 1

      ummm yes, I've seen that before The "container" paradigm. We know there are no challenges there when all the pieces finally have to integrate. Right?

      --
      putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
  7. No surprise by GoodNewsJimDotCom · · Score: 1

    Amazon became a common name with low prices and everyone talks about Prime strategies. Once their prices went up, no one seemed to notice because they're used to shopping there. I bet Amazon had a banner year this year. They even tried interviewing me for a 100-150k/yr job, but I probably wasn't taking it since I'd rather stay with my family. Its funny, I'd rather have a 25k a year telecommute job than a 150k/yr job that requires me to relocate.

    --
    God spoke to me
    1. Re:No surprise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're nuts unless where you are now is amazing.

      I work in downtown Seattle, and commute 35/40 miles in about 45 minutes from Puyallup on the Sounder commuter train - its generally on time, traffic has no effect, way nicer than a bus, 1/3 of the trip is through the farmlands of Pierce county. Houses in Sumner/Puyallup/Tacoma are still affordable compared to anything near Seattle.

    2. Re:No surprise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I hear you. A friend of mine works at Amazon, and switched to a lower-paying position so she could work in Amazon's Vancouver office. One of the complaints heard from hiring managers is that candidates don't want to relocate, and decline even lucrative job offers. It's one of the biggest internet companies in the world; why can't they master telecommuting?

      A few years ago, Amazon ranked #2 of the Fortune 500 companies in terms of employee turnover rate. If developers make it to 3 years, they're doing better than average. They typically leave for one of two reasons: 1) they're poached by another company, or 2) they burn out.

      Funny observations: what's the difference between a college and Amazon? The college trains you for 4 years; Amazon 3 years. Additionally, you pay the college, but Amazon pays you. Finally, having 3 years of Amazon experience on your resume looks more impressive than a degree. :-)

    3. Re:No surprise by rwa2 · · Score: 1

      Yep, that jives with what I've heard from current and past Amazon employees.

      Most last 1-2 years, because that's what it takes for the stock options to vest and so you can leave without having to pay back relocation assistance.

      As far as corporate culture goes, they do have a problem with excessive middle management, and those are probably the ones that want to keep their employees physically close to them so they can watch them and keep their metrics up. There's a lot of internal competition and finger pointing. Brilliant friend of mine tried putting in for an internal transfer within Amazon, so then his manager put him on a probation plan to prevent losing him to another internal team. Then finally after they had a falling out over this, the manager had him dismissed as a scapegoat for some api outage. A bunch of his other Amazon friends had also gotten scapegoated as well, often for existing problems that they were trying fix, but had been hushed or postponed during planning meetings. Then when it finally dies, the manager has to choose a scapegoat or else lose their own position.

      Plus, the only perk Amazon employees seem to have is location. They've built up a pretty nice urban campus in South Lake Union over the past few years, so young'uns can live and work in condos downtown with their little doggies ... and that's about it. They offer few of the competitive perks offered by other Seattle area companies... in the name of frugality employees have to pay for their own coffee and beer in the lounge, and little stuff like that. I guess you get a free Prime membership, but not really any other lucrative "employee discounts" on stuff. So yeah, many, many employees just take the relocation money, hang on for the year or two that it takes to get out, and GTFO.

      Like MS, Amazon is probably doing this on purpose to flood the local tech job economy with tech workers, to overall reduce the wages they have to pay the star software devs. The Seattle tech job market is still very tight, but all it would take is Amazon announcing a 5% layoff to completely bomb the market with tech jobseekers... though I'm not sure how much of a spike that would be from their normal attrition rate.

    4. Re:No surprise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At Amazon, most of your stock doesn't vest in the first two years. It's backloaded to years 3 and 4. If you don't make it that long, you lose out on most of the stock. Cash signing bonus is over the first 2 years, though, and you do have to pay back relocation assistance if you leave before 2 years. Also, no free Prime for employees.

  8. More people, huh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And it still takes them a week to ship a package of three items...

  9. vs number of jobs lost to foreigners what is it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Amazon is handy but they need to quit the greed shit. They don't need to be "the only place you go for anything".

    Bezos has money to help people but what is he spending it on? haircuts.

  10. Re:vs number of jobs lost to foreigners what is it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not to mention ma and pa shops and youngsters that could open their own businesses but can't because overhead limits their pricing ability.

  11. Re:vs number of jobs lost to foreigners what is it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If someone can drive more efficiency, more power to them. No one has a right to be able to run a small business or a ma and pa shop.

  12. BellingWhere? by thisisauniqueid · · Score: 2

    BellingWhere?

    1. Re:BellingWhere? by rwa2 · · Score: 1

      Cozy little border/college town about an hour north of Seattle where a bunch of the more #authentic hipsters come from.

  13. Amazon Fulfillment by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I have begun to see a lot more Amazon Fulfilment folks in my neighbourhood and the distant neighbourhoods I visit. Their uniform is a t-shirt. Any pants, shoes, just an approved t-shirt. I believe a bunch of the employment statistics are skewed by Amazon these days.

  14. Re:vs number of jobs lost to foreigners what is it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Any idea why there are laws against monopolies dickhead?

    Power corrupts.

    You let a too-big company run every fucking thing in life through it, you will have to lie about what you said later to not get your ass beat to death for being a little bitch.