Amazon is hiring an additional 100,000 warehouse workers and raising pay as the coronavirus causes an 'unprecedented' increase in demand for this time of year

• Amazon is adding 100,000 warehouse and delivery workers, according to a company blog post.
• It's also raising their pay by $2 per hour through April.
• The moves are meant to improve the working conditions of their warehouse and delivery workers as they are seeing a huge spike in workloads following the coronavirus outbreak that's causing more people to shop online.
• Amazon will have roughly 900,000 total employees worldwide, following Monday's move.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Amazon said in a blog post Monday that it's hiring an additional 100,000 US warehouse and delivery workers and raising their pay by $2 per hour through April. The Wall Street Journal was the first to report it.

The increased hiring will bring Amazon's total workforce to nearly 900,000 worldwide. Amazon said it's investing roughly $350 million to increase the pay.

"We are seeing a significant increase in demand, which means our labor needs are unprecedented for this time of year," the blog post said.

Complimentary Tech Event

Transform talent with learning that works

Capability development is critical for businesses who want to push the envelope of innovation.Discover how business leaders are strategizing around building talent capabilities and empowering employee transformation.Know More

The moves are designed to help its warehouse and delivery workers as they deal with increased workloads following the coronavirus outbreak that's causing more people to shop online.

Amazon said in a blog post over the weekend that, as the coronavirus spread across the world, it's seeing a sharp increase in online shoppers. That's caused some of its most popular brands and household staple products to run out of stock, while delaying its normal delivery cycle.

"We are working around the clock with our selling partners to ensure availability on all of our products, and bring on additional capacity to deliver all of your orders," Amazon said in a blog post.

Meanwhile, Amazon experienced a technical glitch on Sunday for its Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh services, as it dealt with a spike in online grocery orders, according to Bloomberg.

Other preventative measures by Amazon, in response to the coronavirus outbreak, include the launch of a $25 million fund to support partners, and offering unlimited unpaid time off for warehouse workers.