Thanksgiving is only about two weeks away but companies are already preparing for the day after.
Seasonal work is down for some companies but in Southeast Wisconsin, Amazon is looking to fill 1,000 positions to help sort packages.
"We're doing a lot of distributions of Christmas and holiday packages," said Sharon Harris, staffing coordinator for Amazon. "This is one of the biggest seasons for Amazon. The holiday season."
Harris spent hours Monday talking to dozens of potential employees at a time. After a brief video and a swab of their cheek, they're all but hired. People just need to pass a drug test, background check, have a high school diploma and be over 18.
"We're looking to hire like 100 people just for today and thousands over the next month," Harris said.
Harris told the prospects they can work as much or as little as they'd like between Nov. 19 and New Year's Eve. For them, it will help packages get to where they need to be on time. For the workers, it's all about the paycheck.
"Help pay bills and Christmas presents and stuff," said Shaqueshell Smith.
"Catch up on bills, Christmas Shopping, gifts," said Willie Thomas. "Keep money in your pocket basically.
"Supplement my income," said Eric Barajas. "Being a college student can be tough. It will be nice to have some extra money. Get my parents something nice for Christmas."
Several other companies are adding jobs for seasonal employees too. Target, Macy's and JCPenney are adding tens of thousands of jobs across the country while UPS is looking for roughly 400 employees in our area. But some companies like Walmart are skipping the new hires and just offering overtime to their current employees.
But with unemployment at its lowest since 2000, filling the jobs could prove difficult. However, Amazon has an extra incentive.
"When employees or candidates refer friends and family, they get a $250 bonus," Harris said.
