Amazon announced the creation of 3,400 new roles across its operations network in the Kingdom to meet growing customer demand during their annual “White Friday” sale campaign. Since launching Amazon.sa six months ago, the company has also invested in a 25 percent increase in the delivery station network it uses to speed up customers’ delivery times.
“These investments are a testament to Amazon’s commitment to providing quality jobs for local communities and customers with greater selection and more flexible delivery options,” a statement said.
The capital investments, spread across three key pillars — job creation, delivery infrastructure, and technology, have been well timed for the end-of-year shopping festival that began with White Friday, which took place from Nov. 24 to 30. To help supplement capacity for the rapid growth in customer demand, Amazon launched three new delivery stations through its subsidiaries and partners across Saudi Arabia, from Arar to Jazan and Makkah to Dammam. This expansion created more than 3,000 permanent and seasonal jobs, with more than 60 percent Saudization of Amazon’s permanent workforce.
Prashant Saran, director of operations for Amazon Middle East and North Africa, said: “When we first launched our marketplace in Saudi Arabia, we promised our customers the ability to shop a broader selection of both local products and international goods from Amazon. Since then, we have continued to invest in Saudi Arabia as part of our long-term commitment to our customers. We continue to innovate for our customers, bringing local and global businesses closer through our advanced fulfillment and logistics networks. We are ensuring customers across the country can get what they need from the comfort of their home while prioritizing our associates, partners, and customers’ health and safety.”
Amazon is leveraging its more than 20 years of experience in global technology innovation to create more efficient and safer processes for associates and partners in Saudi Arabia. These global technologies are seamlessly enhancing the entire delivery process across Saudi Arabia — from orders received in fulfillment centers, to the delivery of packages via sort centers, and to additional delivery stations to enable faster delivery for customers. Enhancements include geocoding solutions to calculate more accuracy for customer addresses with no postal codes and investing in Arabic language tools to support associates.
Since the start of the pandemic, Amazon has implemented more than 150 measures for employees, associates and drivers at its sites including new processes and space planning to ensure social distancing, additional sanitization stations, the provision of face coverings and daily temperature screenings.
