Amazon to hire 100,000 new workers to meet coronavirus-induced demand

The online retail giant has also said it will increase pay for staff in the UK, the USA and Europe.

Amazon, which has seen its delivery systems come under pressure due to the surge in online orders due to people staying at home, has said it is calling on people from the restaurant, travel and entertainment industries who may now be out of work because of the outbreak to make up a substantial proportion of new recruits.

Senior vice president of operations Dave Clark said: “We want those people to know we welcome them on our teams until things return to normal and their past employer is able to bring them back.”

Amazon said it would increase hourly wages by $2 in the US, £2 in the UK and €2 in Europe. The company said it expects the pay rises to cost more than $350m (£285m).

The online retailer did not say whether it would be recruiting additional warehouse staff in the UK, but the GMB Union has reported that workers across at least four different Amazon warehouses in the UK were informed they had to work “compulsory overtime” on Monday.

National officer Mick Rix said Amazon had put “profit before safety”.

Amazon operates 17 warehouses across the UK and employs 27,000 staff.

A spokesperson for Amazon confirmed to the BBC that the business has ramped up shifts across the UK.

They said: “As demand continues to increase, we are working to ensure we can continue to deliver to the most-impacted customers while keeping our people safe.

“Many of these customers have no other way to get essential items and we want to be sure that we have the right resources in place to deliver on their needs.

“Starting this week, we’ll be prioritising the intake and dispatch of items most needed by our customers right now. These are items such as food, health and personal care products, items needed to work from home, books and toys for children.”