Amazon Hiring For 100K New Jobs, Trump Tries To Take Credit Again

Amazon plans to add 100,000 new “full-time, full benefit” jobs across the country over the next 18 months, the company announced Thursday, while president-elect Donald Trump was quick to take the credit.

Amazon’s workforce, one of the biggest in the country, will grow from 180,000 in 2016 to more than 280,000 by mid-2018. Over the past five years alone, Amazon created more than 150,000 jobs in the United States.

The new positions range for those with different types of background, education and skill levels, including roles as engineers, software developer to entry-level and on-the-job training, Amazon says.

“Innovation is one of our guiding principles at Amazon, and it’s created hundreds of thousands of American jobs,” said Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in a statement. “We plan to add another 100,000 new Amazonians across the company over the next 18 months as we open new fulfillment centers, and continue to invent in areas like cloud technology, machine learning, and advanced logistics.”

Trump Takes Credit For Amazon New Jobs

The move comes after Trump criticized companies for taking jobs to other countries. Amazon did not say it added jobs because of Trump’s comments, but that didn’t stop the president-elect from taking the credit for the new jobs Amazon announced.

“The president-elect was pleased to play role in that decision," said incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer during a call with reporters, according to The Hill.

Bezos, who met with the president-elect at last month’s tech summit in Manhattan, has had some run-ins with Trump in the past. The CEO previously tweeted that he would reserve a seat for Trump on a Blue Origin rocket after the president-elect called Amazon a “no profit company.” Trump was also upset about the Washington Post’s coverage on him during the campaign (Bezos owns the paper).

Where The Jobs Will Be

Amazon specifically pointed out some states in the country where jobs will be created. Most of the jobs will be in new fulfillment centers that are under construction in Texas, California, Florida, New Jersey and other states.

In Texas, 1,000 new full-time jobs will be added in Houston and has openings for hundreds more in Austin at its corporate office, the company said. In California, 4,000 positions will be added to local communities, including Sacramento and Tracy. Amazon has five centers in Illinois and four under construction. The company will add 7,000 new jobs in that state after construction is completed later this year. New fulfillment centers in Florida and New Jersey will add 9,000 jobs in those states.

Amazon also says businesses like Marketplace and Amazon Flex will continue to create hundreds of thousands of U.S. for individuals who want the flexibility to start their own business, work part-time or make their own schedule.