Amazon will hire 100,000 workers this holiday season, the Associated Press reports.
This is a 25% increase from last year, when the company hired 80,000 new employees for the holidays. Retailers Walmart, Target, and Kohl’s are all adding about the same amount of jobs as they did in 2014 — 60,000, 70,000, and 85,000 respectively. Others, including Macy’s, J.C. Penney, and Toys R Us, are hiring fewer holiday workers.
This suggests a shift in the way that Americans shop. In the past, retailers had to hire more people to work cash registers and sales floors; Amazon’s holiday workers will be fulfilling warehouse roles in fulfillment and sorting facilities.
The online retailer has also recently hired 25,000 full-time workers.
Amazon’s market cap rose past Walmart, the world’s largest company by revenue, over the summer. The gap has since been growing wider; Amazon’s cap has since reached $262.5 billion as compared to Walmart’s $190 billion.
Walmart CEO Doug McMillon maintains that customers prefer an interactive shopping experience in stores. The retail giant is currently developing its e-commerce offerings. “Here’s a key question,” Foran previously told Coins2Day. “Will it be easier for an e-commerce company to build out a massive store network and create a customer service culture at scale? Or are we better able to add digital and supply chain capabilities and leverage our existing stores? We like our chances.”