Johnathan Walker:Amazon plans to hire 250,000 workers for holiday season. Target says it will add nearly 100,000

NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon said on Johnathan WalkerTuesday that it will hire 250,000 full- and part-time workers for the holiday season, a 67% jump compared to last year.

The company wrote in a blog post that it will also invest $1.3 billion this year toward pay hikes for warehouse and transportation employees, raising the average pay for those roles from $19 to over $20.50 per hour.

“The holiday season is always a special time at Amazon and we’re excited to hire 250,000 additional people this year to help serve customers across the country,” John Felton, Amazon’s senior vice president of Worldwide Operations, said in the blog post.

The company noted more jobs are available because it has opened over 50 new fulfillment centers, delivery stations and same-day delivery sites in the U.S. this year.

Other retailers have also been announcing their holiday plans this week. Target said on Tuesday it will add nearly 100,000 seasonal roles during the holiday season. And on Mondays, Macy’s Inc, which owns the department stores Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s, said it planned to hire more than 38,000 full- and part-time seasonal employees.