A month after Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos met with President-elect Donald Trump, the online retail giant announced that it would create 100,000 jobs in the following 18 months.
The jobs are expected to reach tech positions mostly, rather than manufacturing or infrastructure, seeing that Amazon serves as a middleman for transactions between customers and retailers.
Over half of the job listings that Amazon will offer lie under the “technology” branch, which would include computer engineers and IT specialists. Only a 5 percent will be for people that desire to work in Amazon’s fulfillment centers, where the orders placed by clients are stored, checked for quality, and sent for delivery.
Although it is just a tiny part of the jobs that Amazon will offer, the company is also looking forward towards building new fulfillment centers, as it created 26 new facilities last year, almost twice compared to the ones built back in 2015.
Amazon makes its most powerful ally
At first, Bezos and Trump criticized each other, getting to the point of Trump threatening Amazon and promising trouble for the company if he were to become president, which he did. Trump talked about Bezos abusing his position at the Washington Post to enjoy lower tax rates for Amazon, while Bezos critiqued Trump’s accusation of biased news.
“…bought this paper for practically nothing, and he’s using that as a tool for political power, against me and against other people, and I’ll tell you what, we can’t let him get away with it,” stated Trump about Bezos to Fox News back in May.
Trump accused Bezos of enjoying a monopoly in online retail sales, streaming, and cloud computing. He argues that Amazon does not protect its clients, while in fact, they do, always keeping prices low and strictly complying to customer feedback.
So far, Amazon stock owners remain confident in the company, seeing that the market does not display the characteristics that label Amazon’s trade as a monopoly and its business maintaining a steady growth pace thanks to the tools provided by the internet and its constant evolution of services.
On December, Jeff Bezos assisted the tech summit hosted by the President-elect on Trump Tower, meeting with the business magnate face-to-face for the first time. Amazon’s CEO had no other choice than to collaborate with the President-elect, stating that he is “super excited about the possibilities” that the new government administration would try to bring innovation to the table by working alongside the new leaders in the tech industry.
The first steps into a new economy
Now Amazon will take the offensive against a trend that has put retail stores with their backs against the wall: changes in the workforce. Amazon will be increasing its total number of employees in the U.S. to 280,000, compared to a measly 30,000 in 2011. On the other hand, department stores such as Sears and Macy’s have been forced to fire thousands of employees, mainly because people can now order the same or better apparel from the comfort of their favorite smart device.
The new facilities are already under construction, some located in Texas, Florida, New Jersey, and California.
One of Trump’s primary objectives is to have American-based companies keep production inside the United States, seeing that many tech giants, such as Apple and Samsung, have their assembly lines in other countries because they are cheaper this way. Not only Apple and Amazon, but also Ford, Carrier, SoftBank Group, and many others have received a visit from Donald Trump, forcing them to comply with what the President-elect has in mind for creating more jobs for the American people.
Analysts argue that Jeff Bezos may be making peace with Donald Trump to grow the company exponentially. In less than 20 years, Amazon grew from a small online book shop to the 5th most valuable company in the United States, due to it selling retail goods of all kinds, now allowing customers to buy by just saying “Alexa, order some peanuts.”
Because Amazon is trying to grow in such a way to be a part of the life of people through their gadgets and consumer-based focus, the company needs the government on its side to reach its maximum potential. Amazon will have to upgrade its cyber security, neutrality, tax practices, and everything in between to truly grow in a way that they become the go-to platform for retail sales.
“If a CEO and a major public official, the President of the United States, don’t have a good relationship, then it’s going to be that much harder for that company to be heard and their concerns to be taken seriously,” stated Tim LaPira to Business Insider, concerning Bezos’ latest moves in allowing himself to work with Trump.
Amazon has announced that its job listings will offer competitive pay, health and disability insurance, retirement plans, and even benefits in buying stocks from the company. Reportedly, the jobs will be available for people all over the U.S., allowing them to be employed regardless of their experience, skill, and education, mainly benefiting people looking for entry-level job positions.
Source: Amazon