Amazon ($AMZN) shares are soaring more than 40% in 2020, as shelter-in-place has translated into myriad new purchasing patterns - most of which led back to the Seattle e-commerce superpower's front door.
But now, as Amazon faces staff complaints about safety during a pandemic, and as it has seen multiple employees diagnosed with Coronavirus, Amazon is doubling down yet again on medical, health, and safety professionals - even as overall hiring has declined 23% from its 2020 peak.
For Amazon's medical, health, and safety division - responsible for various tasks including tracking worker safety - job postings have shot up nearly 60% in 2020. And, that's not all: the company is also implementing AR, sensors, and cameras to try to warn employees when they are physically too close to one another, according to a Wired report.
However, staffers say they are grappling with difficulty with a heavily-automated human resources system that isn't adequately meeting needs, according to a Bloomberg report. So Amazon may have yet more hiring to do.
Amazon is also out to save your stuff, too. That's because, as shipping hits holiday-like fervor while bored shoppers buy literature to boost their awareness, weights to work the weight off, and music to pass the time, package theft is on the rise as well.
CNBC tracks how Amazon works to combat package theft; but job posting data reflects a steep drop-off (not shown) in listings for Ring, Amazon's doorbell service aimed at providing better security for shipments.
Perhaps, for right now, Amazon simply has to focus on what's immediately most important, however.
About the Data:
Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales, and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue, and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.