Amazon to go on hiring spree in the United States

REUTERS - Amazon.com Inc said on Thursday it plans a hiring spree for warehouses it is building across the United States, making it the latest company to tout U.S. job creation since Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election in November.

The world's largest online retailer will add 100,000 full-time positions, growing its U.S. workforce by more than 50 percent to over 280,000 in the next 18 months, it said in a press release. Jobs will range from software development to warehouse work.

Amazon is spending heavily on new warehouses so it can stock goods closer to customers and fulfill orders quickly and cheaply. The new hires, from Florida to Texas and California, will be key to the company's promise of two-day shipping to members of its Amazon Prime shopping club, which has given it an edge over rival retailers.

"These jobs are not just in our Seattle headquarters or in Silicon Valley - they're in our customer service network, fulfillment centers and other facilities in local communities throughout the country," CEO Jeff Bezos said in the release.

Job creation has become a hot-button political issue since the presidential election. Ford Motor Co last week reversed plans for a $1.6 billion factory in Mexico and said it would add 700 jobs in Michigan after receiving criticism from Trump.

The President-elect on Wednesday said he will be "the greatest jobs producer that God ever created."

Trump had criticized Amazon during his campaign, saying the technology giant did not pay its fair share of taxes.

(Reporting by Laharee Chatterjee in Bengaluru and Jeffrey Dastin in New York; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Dan Grebler)