(NewsNation) — Retail giant Amazon is gearing up for the holiday rush, with a bump in holiday hiring to support the logistics of making sure millions of packages get delivered in time for families to celebrate.
Amazon brings in nearly $200 billion a year in online sales, with another $16 billion from brick-and-mortar stores. NewsNation’s Alex Caprariello visited an Amazon warehouse in Rockford, Illinois, to see how it all works behind the scenes.
The Rockford warehouse is one of eight regional air hubs that has a tarmac on site, with planes delivering goods to be packaged and delivered straight to American homes.
Technology speeds up the process, with workers loading items onto conveyor belts to take them to an automatic sorter. Cameras scan the labels, and a computer tells where packages need to go to be sorted into individual orders. Those boxes get loaded onto trucks to go to homes across the Midwest.
Amazon has hired an additional 400 seasonal workers at the facility, with nationwide plans for hiring at least 250,000 full-time, part-time and seasonal workers. The company is also investing $1.3 billion to increase worker pay.
Amazon’s investments are part of a strategy to make sure all customers get their orders on time. But when it comes to peak shopping season, the company advises shoppers to order early to ensure gifts get delivered on time.
