Amazon Helps Professionals Rejoin the Workforce

From people losing their jobs because of business closures or layoffs to women having to step away from their careers to take care of their homebound children or elders, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a direct impact on the American workforce. To help these professionals get back to work, Amazon has launched the Amazon Returnship program, which offers people who have been without a job or underemployed for at least a year a new opportunity to rejoin the workforce by restarting their careers at Amazon. The company plans to hire 1,000 professionals over the coming years as a result of this unique initiative.

According to the latest jobs report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in May decreased to 5.8% from 6.1% the previous month. Aimed at helping companies meet the challenges of filling jobs, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently launched the America Works initiative to remove barriers to work, expanding job training programs and helping employers find talent.

Over at Amazon, the Returnship program offers participants an initial 16-week paid working opportunity in several areas across the company, including teams like Operations Finance, Consumer Payments and Search. Candidates go through a customized and abbreviated interview process that takes into account their career trajectory, and once they start in their new roles, they receive dedicated support and personalized coaching. During the program, returners work on a specific project and, after four months, they have the possibility to move into full-time positions at Amazon. During the first 16 weeks, participants work remotely from home and are provided child and elder care assistance so they can ease back into the workforce without making any major life changes during their first step.

“We understand that life happens and sometimes an event affects career plans,” said Beth Galetti, SVP of people eXperience and technology at Amazon. “While people may need to drop from the workforce to help care for children or aging parents, we believe that this should not penalize their careers. Coming back to work after a break can be challenging — the company you know and the tools you used are likely to have changed. Amazon’s new Returnship program is designed to help professionals reintegrate to the workforce and offers them competitive pay, a structured environment and personalized mentorship so they can succeed.”

The year 2020 was officially christened as the year of the “Shecession,” as the economic downturn from the pandemic disproportionately affected women. The United States has seen a net loss of 4.5 million jobs held by women since February 2020, with nearly 2 million women leaving the labor force altogether, according to a May 2021 report from the National Women’s Law Center. Amazon expects that at least three out of every four participants in its new program will be women returning to the American workforce.

“Returnship programs help companies find talent that they’re overlooking using traditional recruiting methods. We see more than 80% of participants in programs we work on transition to full-time roles, speaking to the caliber of this segment of the workforce,” said Tami Forman, executive director of New York-based Path Forward, a nonprofit helping people to restart their careers after time spent focused on caregiving, and a partner of Amazon’s program. “Creating the right path for helping people rejoin the workforce after a break can unlock an enormous economic potential and change the lives of many professionals who so often feel discouraged to even apply [for] new jobs. Programs like the one Amazon is launching can be life-changing, and we are excited to partner with Amazon to continue expanding these efforts.”

Other benefits of Amazon’s program include relocation reimbursement if participants accept a permanent role at the company. Professionals can apply for Amazon’s Returnship program here. 

Seattle-based Amazon is No. 2 on Progressive Grocer’s 2021 PG 100 list of the top food and consumables retailers in North America.