Amazon looks to hire 800 more workers in Nevada

After hiring more than 2,000 workers in Nevada, Amazon plans to hire at least another 800 in the state to keep up with increased demand during the COVID-19 outbreak.

This comes after the company announced this week that it had already completed a March 16 pledge to hire 100,000 people in full- and part-time jobs across the country “to keep as many people as possible working during the crisis,” according to a Tuesday news release.

Its new push to hire will create an additional 75,000 U.S. jobs. Amazon said it plans to invest more than $500 million in increased wages during the pandemic, up from its previous estimate of $350 million.

The new workers join the 3,500 full-time employees already working in Nevada and will fill a “range of roles,” including picking, packing and shipping customer orders and delivering packages.

The new hires come at a time when a record number of Nevadans are facing unemployment; as of April 4, there have been 271,533 initial unemployment claims filed in 2020, more than the state saw in the prior two years combined.

While the company has drawn criticism for taking action against a worker at a New York City warehouse who organized a walkout because of workplace conditions during the coronavirus outbreak, an executive has laid out the steps Amazon is taking to keep employees safe at this time. This includes temperature checks at select sites and additional personal protective equipment for workers.

Those interested can apply online at amazon.com/jobsnow, and U.S. residents can text AMAZON to 77088 to receive automated messages about job openings near them. Positions are available on a rolling basis.

Contact Bailey Schulz at bschulz@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0233. Follow @bailey_schulz on Twitter.