Amazon is planning to hire 55,000 people for corporate and technology roles globally in the coming months, according to Chief Executive Andy Jassy. 

That is equal to more than a third of Google’s headcount as of June 30 and close to all of Facebook’s. 

Mr Jassy, in his first press interview since he ascended to Amazon’s top post in July, said the company needed more firepower to keep up with demand in retail, the cloud and advertising, among other businesses. He said that the company’s new bet to launch satellites into orbit to widen broadband access, called Project Kuiper, would require a lot of new hires too. 

With Amazon’s annual job fair scheduled to begin on September 15, Mr Jassy hopes that now is a good time for recruiting. “There are so many jobs during the pandemic that have been displaced or have been altered, and there are so many people who are thinking about different and new jobs,” said Mr Jassy, who cited a US survey from PwC that 65 per cent of workers wanted a new gig. 

“It’s a part of what we think makes Career Day so timely and so useful,” he said. The new hires would represent a 20 per cent increase in Amazon’s tech and corporate staff, who currently number around 275,000 globally, the company said. 

Amazon’s move, only the latest hiring spree on which it has embarked, follows a period of heightened scrutiny of its labour practices and opposition by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Earlier this year, there was a failed effort by some staff in Alabama to put on display Amazon’s taxing warehouse work and its aggressive stance against unions. In that battle’s aftermath, Jeff Bezos, the CEO whom Mr Jassy succeeded, said Amazon needed a better vision for employees.