It appears Amazon is adding to staff in countries like South Korea and Japan, while scaling back on job postings in China and in Hong Kong, as a combination of a second wave of Coronavirus outbreaks and rising geopolitical tensions in the latter regions may be causing businesses to consider diversifying planning and production in Asia in uncertain times.
Lately, Amazon has been focused more on job postings in Japan than in China, if listings at the company's website are to be believed. Japanese job postings are up nearly 30% year-over-year, and are closing in on an all-time high. And, this comes as Amazon has reduced the number of jobs posted in China in the last few weeks, with total postings roughly flat on the year. Checking out of China could become a trend.
In Korea, job postings for Amazon are up nearly 50% year-over-year - and, that's the case in other Asian markets as well. It could be China's never-ending war of words with US President Donald J. Trump; it could be lingering issues stemming from China's continuing attempts to strong-arm Hong Kong. But while Amazon has been reducing job postings in those two markets, it has been beefing them up elsewhere.
Part of the push looks to be not warehouse and shipping staff, but tech pros - categories within Korea where Amazon is hiring more include Solutions Architect; Project Management and Sales & Advertising (not shown). This comes as Amazon is taking on another high-profile deal, buying out a hobbled startup at a big discount, with Zoox.
And, Amazon is struggling against the Coronavirus outbreak in the US, as it simultaneously staffs up with health and safety pros at record levels, to try and host a safer workspace for essential employees.
While being in the midst of a global pandemic means it's not guaranteed any of these staffing trends will hold up, the current trajectory and moves in Asia suggest Amazon is becoming an increasingly global company - and one that's less inclined to embrace controversy and geopolitical turbulence as well.
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.