The News: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, in his first press interview since stepping into the CEO role, announced Amazon Career Day, a massive global recruiting event. In an effort to keep up with demand in a number of areas, including cloud, retail, advertising and other business units, Jassy shared that the company seeking to fill some 55,000+ corporate and tech jobs, 40K in the U.S. and the remaining positions in Japan, Germany, India, and other countries. Amazon’s Career Day is scheduled for September 15 in North American and September 16 in Europe and Asia. Read the full press release from Amazon here.
Amazon Announces Career Day, a Massive Recruiting Event — Seeking to Fill 40K+ Corporate and Tech Jobs in the U.S.
Analyst Take: Andy Jassy’s announcement today about Amazon’s Career Day is nothing if not well-timed. At a time when the pandemic has caused no small amount of havoc in the workplace, it’s great to see the company championing career opportunities, career training, and mentoring — all wrapped up in one impressive event.
The massive recruiting event part isn’t at all surprising, since Amazon rarely does anything halfway. But what Amazon is doing with this interactive is so much more than simply a recruiting event — it’s clearly an event designed to provide a solid career assist in myriad ways — something that’s desperately needed by many right now. In the interview, Jassy cited an August pulse survey by PwC, that surveyed 1,007 full and part-time U.S. workers — 65% of whom indicated they are looking for a new job. More desirable work, opportunities for advancement, better benefits, better pay, more workplace flexibility, including the ability to work fully remote, are all drivers here.
Image credit: PwC
Jassy isn’t the only leader concerned about employee turnover. PwC’s pulse survey also polled 751 U.S. executives, 72% of which were from Fortune 1000 companies. Nine in ten executives (88%) reported their company is experiencing higher turnover than usual, all of which indicates timing on the part of Amazon’s Career Day event is ideal.
Before we get into the specifics of Amazon’s recruiting event, some back story. In the last 18 months alone, Amazon has hired more than 450,000 people, making it the largest job-creator in the United States. Amazon was also recently named by LinkedIn as the number one company Americans are most interested in working for. The company currently ranks number two on the World’s Best Employers list from Forbes, and on Fortune’s World’s Most Admired Companies list. Amazon has received recognition from the LGBTQ+ community as a best workplace, has been named as a Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion by the Disability Equality Index, and has also been recognized by veterans’ organizations for excellence in hiring, training, and retraining veterans, transitioning service members and military spouses.
Couple this recognition with a myriad of upskilling efforts from the company, and Amazon, despite sometimes being harshly criticized, continues to focus on being part of the solution in creating not only jobs, but meaningful employment for those it hires.
The Specifics of the Amazon Recruiting Event: Coaching, Advice/Learning, and Tactical Training
The Amazon recruiting event is open to any interested individuals, regardless of experience, career field, or background. The event is a free, and virtual, and anyone can register to participate. Amazon’s goal is to fill more than 40,000 new corporate and tech roles across more than 220 locations in the U.S. as well as an additional 15,000 positions outside the U.S. The company is also seeking workers to fill tens of thousands of hourly positions in its Operations network.
It’s clear this event has been designed with something for everyone in mind. Whether job seekers are current Amazon employees looking for new job or career opportunities within the organization, or anyone anywhere looking for a new job or career, all are welcome to participate in this interactive event. What attendees can expect is a day packed with job opportunities, coaching, advice, and insights shared by both senior leaders and well-known career experts, and tactical training. Some of the specifics include:
Coaching. Amazon has shared there will be a team of more than 1,200 Amazon recruiters available throughout the day to provide up to 20,000 one-on-one, one-hour career coaching sessions with participants.
Advice/Insights/Learning Opportunities. The Amazon recruiting event will also feature insights from CEO Andy Jassy and other senior leaders sharing their own career journeys and experiences. The event will also feature NY Times best-selling authors and career experts David Epstein and Carla A. Harris offering guidance and advice that participants can learn from. David Epstein is the author of Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World. Carla A. Harris, a managing director for Morgan Stanley, a Wall Street powerhouse, and recognized by Black Enterprise, Fortune and others as one of the most powerful women in business, is the author of Expect to Win: 10 Proven Strategies for Thriving in the Workplace and Strategize to Win: The New Way to Start Out, Step Up, or Start Over in Your Career.
Tactical Training. Last but not at all least, the Amazon recruiting event will feature a session on “How to Interview at Amazon” led by two senior leaders, along with coding workshops led by Amazon software developers.
In summary, this is a lot of good news – and we think some very cool opportunities for a whole lot of people. At a time when people either desperately need jobs, or they want new jobs and job opportunities, or more fulfilling careers, what Amazon is offering up by way of this massive recruiting, training, and mentoring event is really very cool. If you or anyone you know might benefit from attending this Amazon recruiting event on September 15-16, here’s a link for more information/registration.
Amazon Investing in Careers and Communities
As noted above, Amazon has been a significant contributor to the hiring, upskilling, and advancement of workers before, during, and we expect beyond the pandemic.
While opinions about Amazon can be vary along a continuum from most positive to negative, it is difficult to argue that the company isn’t playing a leadership role in areas like job creation, small business advancement, workforce development, and other ESG efforts like diversity hiring, sustainability, and regional market development.
The next wave of hiring and the event itself are a reflection of those efforts, and we believe provide a good example how very large organizations can re-invest resources to benefit communities, and the economy at large.
Disclosure: Futurum Research is a research and advisory firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.
Other insights from Futurum Research:
Upskilling Initiatives: Tech Leads the Investment in the Workforce of Tomorrow
Amazon Upskilling 2025 — Amazon Commits to Retraining Employees
Amazon Creating Jobs While Defining a Hybrid Future of Work
The original version of this article was first published on Futurum Research.
Daniel Newman is the Principal Analyst of Futurum Research and the CEO of Broadsuite Media Group. Living his life at the intersection of people and technology, Daniel works with the world’s largest technology brands exploring Digital Transformation and how it is influencing the enterprise. From Big Data to IoT to Cloud Computing, Newman makes the connections between business, people and tech that are required for companies to benefit most from their technology projects, which leads to his ideas regularly being cited in CIO.Com, CIO Review and hundreds of other sites across the world. A 5x Best Selling Author including his most recent “Building Dragons: Digital Transformation in the Experience Economy,” Daniel is also a Forbes, Entrepreneur and Huffington Post Contributor. MBA and Graduate Adjunct Professor, Daniel Newman is a Chicago Native and his speaking takes him around the world each year as he shares his vision of the role technology will play in our future.
Shelly Kramer is a Principal Analyst and Founding Partner at Futurum Research. A serial entrepreneur with a technology centric focus, she has worked alongside some of the world’s largest brands to embrace disruption and spur innovation, understand and address the realities of the connected customer, and help navigate the process of digital transformation. She brings 20 years' experience as a brand strategist to her work at Futurum, and has deep experience helping global companies with marketing challenges, GTM strategies, messaging development, and driving strategy and digital transformation for B2B brands across multiple verticals. Shelly's coverage areas include Collaboration/CX/SaaS, platforms, ESG, and Cybersecurity, as well as topics and trends related to the Future of Work, the transformation of the workplace and how people and technology are driving that transformation. A transplanted New Yorker, she has learned to love life in the Midwest, and has firsthand experience that some of the most innovative minds and most successful companies in the world also happen to live in “flyover country.”