Amazon stated Tuesday it is hiring 250,000 staff within the U.S. to assist handle the vacation rush. It is also bumping the typical hourly pay for warehouse and supply employees.

Amazon sometimes boosts its headcount across the peak vacation procuring season, bringing on hordes of non permanent employees so it may higher sustain with the surge in demand.

The vacation hiring quantity is a big step up from earlier years. Final yr, the corporate stated it might deliver on 150,000 individuals to employees up for the vacations.

The hires will embrace full-time, part-time and seasonal warehouse and supply staff, Amazon stated. Hourly wages for these roles will vary between $17 and $28, and the corporate is providing sign-on bonuses price $1,000 to $3,000 in some places.

The corporate stated warehouse and supply staff will now make $20.50 an hour on common, up from $19 an hour. Amazon has step by step raised the typical beginning pay for its frontline workforce in recent times, amid rising labor tensions. Warehouse and supply employees have taken steps to arrange at a number of services, whereas lawmakers and advocacy teams have criticized its warehouse harm file, amongst different issues.

With the most recent pay hike, some places will provide staff as much as $28 an hour, Amazon stated.

Amazon, which is the second largest employer within the U.S. behind Walmart, had roughly 1.46 million staff globally as of the tip of the second quarter.