Thirty hours a week in a warehouse this December gets you a health plan from the first day. That's the detail in the holiday hiring plan at Amazon (AMZN). The company wants more than 300,000 U.S. workers for the season, in seasonal, part-time and full-time jobs. The Journal's Robb M. Stewart reported it Wednesday, Oct. 21. Openings post weekly from October through December.
The target is 20% above last year, when Amazon said it planned to hire 250,000. United Parcel Service (UPS) wants 100,000 seasonal workers of its own, it said earlier this month. Seasonal pay at Amazon averages $20 an hour, with a path to full-time work. Full-time operations jobs start at $20 and average nearly $24 before benefits.
The health line is the unusual part. A seasonal worker who logs at least 30 hours a week gets coverage from the first day. Plans start at $5 a week with $5 copays. Plenty of seasonal jobs make you wait for coverage, if they offer it at all.
Who this is for, and what to watch
A college student home for break. A retiree who wants a few paid weeks. A parent between jobs, or anyone with a holiday bill to cover. The pay is real. So are the knock-on effects, and they're general, so check your own case. Seasonal wages are taxable income. A short burst of hours at $20 can mean withholding you didn't plan for. A retiree under full retirement age who draws Social Security faces an earnings limit, and wages above it hold back part of the benefit for now. Someone on a means-tested program, from food aid to a marketplace health subsidy, may see the extra income change what they qualify for. The job can still be worth it. Just know the number before the first paycheck.
Amazon's stock had a rough Thursday. Its shares fell $11.99 to $250.38 on Oct. 22, sold along with the other big AI spenders. Amazon is held at weight in 19 books; nothing added.
Our read
This is Cash Flow, M5, with a Career note. A seasonal job is a cash-flow tool, and the best use of it has a name. Six weeks at 30 hours and $20 an hour comes to $3,600 before tax, by our own arithmetic. That covers a holiday without a card balance. Or it refills an emergency fund that gas and groceries raided this year. A teen with earned income can also fund a Roth IRA, and that's a habit worth more than the paycheck.
Your check this week is the withholding and the benefit line, before you fill out the application. If you're a retiree under full retirement age and drawing Social Security, look up this year's earnings limit on the Social Security site and count the weeks against it. If you're on a marketplace health plan, an offer of job-based coverage can change your subsidy for those months. Check your marketplace account before you drop or keep either plan. Parents of a teen, help them fill out the W-4 so the first check isn't a surprise. A good coat gets bought in October, before the first cold morning. If you'd like help fitting the season's pay into your plan, we're glad to look at it with you.