E-commerce giant responds to upsurge in online orders.

 

Amazon has announced plans to hire 75,000 more staff in the US to cater to the extra demand for online orders from customers holed up in their homes due to the coronavirus. 

 

The new hirings are in addition to the 100,000 warehouse and delivery workers it hired recently to deal with the demand surge.

 

"We know many people have been economically impacted as jobs in areas like hospitality, restaurants and travel are lost or furloughed as part of this crisis and we welcome anyone out of work to join us at Amazon until things return to normal and their past employer is able to bring them back," the company said in a blog post.

 

The e-commerce giant now expects to spend over US$500 million globally to increase wages for the workers during the pandemic, it said, up from a previous estimate of US$350 million.

 

Warehouse staff health check

 

Meantime, the company is using thermal cameras to scan for fevers at its warehouses. 

 

With cases of  COVID-19 at more than 70 of its warehouse and delivery facilities in the US, Amazon has started to use thermal cameras to scan for fevers faster. 

 

Thermal cameras, which measure the temperature of a person when compared to their surroundings, are being used in warehouses and require less time and contact than forehead thermometers. 

 

 It will come at no surprise that disposable glovers, hand sanitisers and computer monitors are among the most in-demand business products in the current coronavirus crisis.

 

Hand sanitiser sales booming

 

Data company Stackline recently reviewed e-commerce sales across the US and compiled a list of the biggest year-on-year category increases and declines for the month of March.

 

Top of the list is disposable gloves, closely followed by bread machines, both of which registered increases of more than 650 per cent. Business products on the list included hand soap and sanitiser (up 262 per cent), computer monitors (up 172 per cent), batteries (up 116 per cent), office chairs (up 104%), air purifiers (up 97 per cent) and office desks (up 89 per cent).

 

The worst-performing category was luggage and suitcases, down 77 per cent. Many of the declining products related to outdoor activities, but also included office storage supplies (down 34 per cent).