Dive Brief:

• Amazon announced plans to create more than 5,000 part-time jobs over the next year via Virtual Customer Service, a program where employees can work from home as a customer service agent.

• Virtually-located employees who work 20 hours or more per week receive benefits, including access to Amazon's Career Choice program, which pre-pays 95% of tuition for education related to in-demand fields, regardless of whether those skills are relevant to jobs at Amazon. 

• The new jobs are part of Amazon’s plans to hire more than 30,000 part-time roles over the next year, on top of more than 100,000 full-time, full-benefit jobs the e-commerce giant is creating nationwide over the next 18 months. Like its Seattle neighbor Starbucks, Amazon emphasizes its employment of veterans, saying in a press release that it employs more than 10,000 military veterans, and last year pledged to hire an additional 25,000 veterans and military spouses during the next five years. 

Dive Insight:

While Amazon is touting efforts to hire part-time employees working from home, the move may exacerbate one of the intractable aspects of rising employment in the U.S. since the Great Recession: Many part-time workers — 5.7 million in February, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — prefer full-time employment. 

Certainly, these types of jobs do suit many people, and Amazon furnished testimony from some its Virtual Customer Service agents who want flexibility to care for children or to follow military spouses as their deployment locations change.

“There are lots of people who want or need a flexible job — whether they’re a military spouse, a college student, or a parent — and we’re happy to empower these talented people no matter where they happen to live,” Tom Weiland, Amazon vice president for worldwide customer service, said in a statement. “We’re finding that roles with Virtual Customer Service are particularly attractive to military spouses who want to continue working and parenting, even if their spouse is deployed or the family is relocated, as often happens with military families. Wounded, injured or ill military veterans and others with mobility challenges are also enjoying these opportunities to work from home with Amazon. Both active duty and retired service men and women support our country and we are happy to support them.”

Last month, Nordstrom trimmed its own work-from-home customer service staffing by 58 jobs, saying that as it has improved its e-commerce operations, fewer customers have been reaching out to these agents, who work via phone, chat and email.

Amazon in February reported fourth quarter sales of $43.7 billion, up 22% year-over-year. While the company posted Q4 net income of $749 million and earnings came in at $1.54 per share, compared to an expectation of $1.35 per share, rising costs — including a 43% increase each in marketing and shipping expenses — outpaced the e-commerce giant's revenue rise and spooked investors. Amazon forecasts Q1 operating income between $250 million and $900 million, down from $1.1 billion in the first quarter of last year.