Amazon said MondayTo meet holiday shoppers’ surge in demand, it is employing 150,000 seasonal staffers in the U.S.

This represents a marked increase in employment from last year when Amazon promised 100,000 seasonal employees.

They will be responsible for picking, packing and shipping orders from Amazon’s many fulfillment centers. In the fall, Amazon typically increases the number of employees to handle the rush of orders leading up to Christmas. This period is often called “The Holiday Flurry”. “peak season.”

Amazon claimed that Amazon jobs start at $18 per hour. In some areas, the company will provide a $3,000 bonus for signing up and another $3 an hour to workers who work in shifts.

Amazon wants to offer sign-on bonus and other incentives. free college tuitionAs it is confronted with a tightening labor marketplace. Competitors and other companies WalmartAnd TargetThey have also increased the perks they offer to attract employees.

Amazon CEO Brian Olsavsky told analysts and investorsAfter the July company’s earnings report, it was clear that there is a competitive labor market leading to increased costs.

It has hired 500,000 workers in 2020, following a rampant hiring frenzy since the beginning of the pandemic. It has also plowed profitsIt is now focusing on physical expansion in order to expand its logistics and warehouse operations across the country at breakneck pace.

Amazon is the new destination for holiday hiring said in SeptemberIt was seeking to recruit 125,000 workers in the country.

WATCH: Amazon to let managers decide whether workers return to office or not