In view of large order quantities in the run-up to Christmas, the online giant Amazon has significantly increased its staff. Amazon Germany announced in Munich that around 12,000 seasonal workers were hired, around 3,000 more than a year earlier. The Black Friday discount campaign is coming up at the end of November. A few weeks later is Christmas – two occasions that will drive up orders on Amazon.
The temporary employees work in the logistics locations, for example as sorters. It’s not about Amazon parcel couriers, they work as subcontractors.
Amazon has had its own delivery service in Germany for ten years now, which delivers some of the goods ordered from Amazon itself. Since then, the company has delivered around five billion parcels in Germany. According to the Federal Network Agency, Amazon is the second largest parcel deliverer in Germany behind market leader DHL; the US giant accounts for between 15 and 25 percent of the shipments delivered.
According to the Federal Cartel Office, its market share in online trading in Germany is more than 60 percent. Here Amazon competes with companies like the Hamburg mail order company Otto.
The entire parcel industry is increasing staff
The majority of seasonal workers at Amazon in Germany started in October, the rest in November. Your employment contracts are valid until the end of the year. Amazon permanently employs around 40,000 people in Germany. One reason for the additional need for seasonal workers is new locations, such as the distribution centers in Lahntal (Hesse) and Viernheim (Baden-Württemberg).
Seasonal fluctuations are common for online retailers and parcel services, and competitor DHL is also temporarily increasing its staff: As in previous years, the Bonn-based logistics company has hired around 10,000 seasonal workers. Some of them are still busy until January and therefore longer than at Amazon. This is due to the returns business, which doesn’t play a major role at Amazon Germany: returns are processed abroad, for example at the Amazon returns center in Bratislava (Slovakia).