SEATTLE, WA – It looks as though the only direction Amazon is looking to head is straight up. The retailer recently announced plans to boost its forces by a significant amount, as Amazon intends to hire a spree of 100,000 new employees within the next 18 months.

“We plan to add another 100,000 new Amazonians across the company over the next 18 months as we open new fulfillment centers, and continue to invent in areas like cloud technology, machine learning, and advanced logistics,” said Jeff Bezos, Amazon Founder and CEO, in a statement according to the Dayton Daily News. 

These new positions will be for full-time work, including benefits. Amazon stated that it will continue to focus on job creation through the U.S., not just its headquarters, and bolster employment in states like Washington, Texas, California, Illinois, Kentucky, Florida, and New Jersey.

This isn’t the first span of growth that the online retailer has experienced, though it may be the most explosive. Over the past five years, noted Bloomberg, Amazon has created more than 150,000 jobs in the U.S., with a current number of 180,000 employees as of the end of last year. In 2011, the company retained just 30,000 employees.

Amazon indicated that its new positions will be for all people throughout the U.S. that can bring all sorts of experience, education, and skill levels to the company.

Amazon will fill the positions as it opens its new fulfillment centers throughout the country, with the new span of hirings aimed for completion by the end of 2018.

Will this employment growth further boost the company's plans for fresh, with its Amazon Go pilot, and AmazonFresh expansions?

As buy-side companies continue to ramp up operations, AndNowUKnow will have the latest as it unfolds.

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