Amazon has 11,000 job openings in North Texas with up to a $1,000 sign-up bonus

DALLAS - Need a full or part-time job? Amazon has thousands of job openings in North Texas that offer up to a $1,000 sign-up bonus and a starting salary over $15 an hour.

On Monday, the online retail giant announced its plan to hire more than 125,000 logistics employees across the country to better serve its customers, with 11,000 positions in North Texas.

That’s on top of the 40,000 corporate and IT jobs it announced earlier this month and doesn’t include the seasonal openings it expects to have closer to the holidays.

The company said it is trying to fill roles at about 250 new fulfillment centers, sorting centers, regional air hubs and delivery stations which opened in 2021.

Amazon went as far as calling itself the largest job creator in the United States.

"We are proud to offer opportunities for people from a range of backgrounds, from furloughed workers to former military personnel," said Dave Clark, the CEO of Worldwide Consumer at Amazon. "We take our responsibility as an employer seriously and want our employees to succeed and thrive."

"Everybody's lives changed and we were really a lifeline for a lot of people that just, quite frankly, could not leave the house to get what they needed. And so as a result, we have opportunities opening across the company," said Jenna Powers, Amazon director of recruiting.

With some companies still struggling against a labor shortage, Amazon and others are doing their best to stand out.

"Things like 100% tuition reimbursement, things like 20 weeks paid parental leave, $15 an hour, starting minimum wage, health benefits from day one," Powers said. "These are all things that we offer that we think make us particularly lucrative for people who want to work with us."

Benefits for new full-time employees include health, vision and dental insurance, a 401K retirement savings plan and 20 weeks of paid parental leave.

Amazon also recently announced a college tuition program that launches in January. More than 750,000 of its hourly employees, including warehouse and transportation workers, will be eligible to take classes and earn a bachelor’s degree while working for the company.

Finance experts said companies may have to offer more to grab the attention of job seekers, but with caution.

"Just from a basic economic perspective of supply and demand, if you can't get enough of what you need, you have to try to pay more for it," said David Sacco, practitioner in residence of finance for the University of New Haven. "Companies have to be careful because they want to make sure they don't price themselves out of the market they sell into. So there's this delicate balance that happens."

According to Amazon, recent studies show 61% of job seekers are also looking to change industries as a result of the pandemic.

Workers who are not required to live where they work anymore have options they may not have considered before.

"All of a sudden Amazon comes knocking on your door and you work for JPMorgan and JPMorgan’s CEO says, I want everybody back in the office. OK, well, I can take a job at Amazon. Maybe I'll make 90% of what I made. Maybe I'll make 120% of what I made. But I won't have the cost of commuting," Sacco said.

The company is hosting an online career day event on Wednesday for those who are interested in applying and current employees looking for a promotion.

For more information, visit www.amazon.com/apply.