Scott Goss

The News Journal

The holiday hiring boom reached a fever pitch this week, even as most Delawareans are still stocking up on Halloween candy.

Amazon on Thursday announced it is creating 120,000 seasonal jobs – 20 percent more than last year – to help meet demand during the upcoming holiday shopping season, including positions at its two distribution centers in Delaware.

The Seattle-based company says it's looking to fill a combined 4,000 temporary positions at the company's fulfillment centers in Middletown and New Castle this year.

"This is our favorite time of year – we love serving customers during the busy holiday season," Mike Roth, Amazon's vice president of global customer fulfillment said in a release announcing the hiring.

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Two years ago, the online retail giant added about 3,500 seasonal employees at its Middletown distribution center when the companywide hiring target was 70,0000. Last year, Amazon added 100,000 seasonal positions at its 50 fulfillment centers and 20 sortation centers across the U.S., although specific numbers for Delaware were not released.

The number of seasonal employees at the Amazon warehouse in Middletown has been so great in recent years that the company has paid the Middletown Police Department more than $50,000 to direct employee traffic in and out of the facility during shift changes.

The Delaware Transit Corp. in 2015 added a new express DART route intended to serve Amazon employees who work in Middletown but live in New Castle or Wilmington.

The express bus takes one hour and stops along North DuPont Highway (U.S. 13), at Hazeldell Avenue, and again at Garfield Avenue, in the New Castle area before arriving at the Amazon Fulfillment Center in Middletown. Arrival times are intended to match the start of work shifts at the company’s distribution facility.

Last year's seasonal hiring followed the addition of 500 full-time positions at the Middletown warehouse. An equal number were added at the facility in 2014.

While Amazon does not release information about the number of employees at its operation centers, the company's total employment is believed to be more than 2,500 combined across its two Delaware facilities.

The thousands of seasonal positions being created this year will run through the end of the year. They include day, evening and overnight shifts in picking, packing, shipping, receiving and management.

For fulfillment center associates, shifts typically run 10 to 12 hours per day, up to four days a week. The seasonal jobs pay $12.50 to $13.75 per hour, with opportunities for overtime pay.

Other available positions include safety specialists, human resources coordinators, managers and back-office roles.

Amazon also typically hires full-time workers from its pool of seasonal employees each year. The company says more than 14 percent of seasonal employees hired last year stayed on in permanent positions after the holidays – a rate expected to increase this year.

Those looking to fill a seasonal position at Amazon’s Delaware locations can apply online at www.amazon.com/seasonal.

Contact business reporter Scott Goss at (302) 324-2281, sgoss@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @ScottGossDel.