Amazon is hiring more than 3,500 in Charlotte region, offering up to $1,000 bonuses

Catherine Muccigrosso
·2 min read

Amazon is hiring more than 3,500 people in the Charlotte region as the company adds new facilities.

Amazon pay starts at $15 minimum wage, plus benefits for full-time employees that include career programs and training.

Amazon also is offering sign-on bonuses of up to $1,000 at some Charlotte locations to entice employees during the nationwide labor shortage.

In May, as coronavirus restrictions lifted in North Carolina and nationwide, Amazon was among a plethora of businesses, like Carowinds and local restaurants, offering pay increases, bonuses and other perks.

Yet months later as federal unemployment benefits ended in September in North Carolina and other states, the spike in COVID-19 infections is hobbling employment recovery. The economy’s health won’t stabilize until the public health crisis ends, workforce expert John Quinterno with South by North Strategies told the News & Observer.

For now, the Seattle-based e-commerce giant is hiring a mix of full-time and part-time jobs in logistics as the company expands in Charlotte, the company said in a news release Tuesday. A company spokeswoman did not answer questions about how many of the positions are full time.

Amazon is looking to hire another 3,500 people in the Charlotte area as it expands operations. Seen here in this file photo is a worker at the company’s CLT4 West Charlotte fulfillment center on Tuckaseegee Road.
Amazon is looking to hire another 3,500 people in the Charlotte area as it expands operations. Seen here in this file photo is a worker at the company’s CLT4 West Charlotte fulfillment center on Tuckaseegee Road.

In April, Amazon said it plans to open a fulfillment center in Pineville and two delivery stations at Beam Road and Old Statesville Road in Charlotte.

The current hiring spree is needed partly because of the new operations but also largely to meet customer demand, according to Amazon. Hiring is underway online at amazon.com/apply.

Amazon also is hosting a free virtual event, called Career Day, on Wednesday offering 20,000 career-coaching sessions; insights from Amazon CEO Andy Jassy; and coding workshops. Register for free at amazoncareerday.com/.

Amazon growth during the pandemic

Amazon operates five fulfillment and sort centers in Charlotte, Concord and Kannapolis, and two delivery stations in Charlotte and Concord, according to the company.

Amazon said it would open a 500,000-square-foot fulfillment center at 12220 Carolina Logistics Drive in Pineville this year, the Observer previously reported. It’s part of a more than 4 million-square-foot industrial site on 288 acres being developed by Beacon Partners.

Amazon has hired over 450,000 people in the U.S. during the pandemic, according to the company. Amazon has more than 12,500 full- and part-time workers in North Carolina.

Last month, Charlotte was one of a few cities nationwide to get Amazon’s fastest same-day delivery service in up to five hours after opening a mini-fulfillment center in June in in Huntersville, the Observer previously reported.

Amazon also works with more than 2,500 delivery service partners in North Carolina that create more than 47,000 jobs statewide. Those partners plan to hire more than 50,000 delivery workers by the end of the year, Amazon said. Apply at amazondelivers.jobs/about/driver-jobs/.