Amazon to hire 70,000 seasonal employees

New York City (AFP) - Online retail giant Amazon said Tuesday it would hire more than 70,000 full-time employees in the United States in the coming weeks to help with holiday orders.

The seasonal hiring for Amazon's US logistics centers is "to meet an increase in customer demand, a 40 percent rise over last year," an Amazon statement said.

"So far this year, we have converted more than 7,000 temporary employees in the US into full-time, regular roles and we're looking forward to converting thousands more after this holiday season," said Dave Clark, Amazon's vice president of worldwide operations and customer service

"Each year, seasonal jobs lead to thousands of long-term, full-time roles in our sites -- jobs that offer great pay, benefits starting on day one and the chance for employees to further their education through our Career Choice program."

Amazon said it has created some 40,000 jobs in the United States since the 2008 financial crisis.