The Office of Personnel Management’s new strategic recruitment plan for 2026-2028 comes as OPM is also pushing for increased hiring of tech talent.

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The Defense Department has also doled out more than $1 billion in bonuses, averaging $13,000 per person, to over 90,000 employees it says are top performers.

© AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson

Amazon says it plans to hire more than 300,000 people for seasonal, part-time and full-time roles across its U.S. operations this holiday season, an increase of 20% from last year and its largest holiday hiring target on record.

The increase reflects a mix of factors, including new sites opening across the country as Amazon expands its operations network, a spokesperson said in response to questions.

Amazon is moving in the opposite direction from the rest of retail. Retailers added the fewest seasonal workers since 2008 last holiday season, and outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas expects even fewer this year, citing automation and uncertain holiday spending as tariffs keep prices high.

UPS plans to hire more than 100,000 seasonal workers, about 9% fewer than last year, according to Reuters, after cutting the volume it handles for Amazon, which now delivers most of its own packages. Target and Walmart haven’t announced national hiring goals.

Amazon’s sales volume has picked up this year. Worldwide paid units, a measure of items sold on Amazon, grew 17% year-over-year in the second quarter, up from 12% a year earlier, according to its second-quarter earnings release.

CEO Andy Jassy said in the earnings release that Amazon set record delivery speeds for Prime members in the first half of the year, with “over 40% more items delivered same-day or overnight.”

Amazon also said Tuesday that seasonal employees who work at least 30 hours a week will be eligible for healthcare from their first day, starting Jan. 1. Seasonal workers previously had to wait 90 days for coverage, meaning that many holiday hires could finish their seasonal jobs before they became eligible.

The change doesn’t apply to the upcoming peak season, but workers hired over the holidays who are still in qualifying roles on Jan. 1 will gain coverage that day, the company said.

Seasonal workers earn an average of $20 an hour. Full-time operations employees start at a minimum of $20 an hour, and average pay across Amazon’s operations workforce is nearly $24, following a pay increase Amazon announced last month.

The hiring push for Amazon’s fulfillment centers and delivery stations comes as the company shrinks its corporate workforce. Amazon cut 16,000 corporate jobs in January, bringing its total reductions to about 30,000 since October 2025.

Amazon had about 1.6 million employees as of June 30, up 3% from a year earlier, excluding contractors and temporary workers. The company reports third-quarter results Oct. 29.

Vietnam’s FPT now tests entry-level applicants on practical AI skills, but the company has yet to disclose how candidates will be evaluated.

The post Vietnam’s FPT Adds AI Skills Test for New Hires, but Key Details Remain Unclear appeared first on TechRepublic.

Vietnam’s FPT now tests entry-level applicants on practical AI skills, but the company has yet to disclose how candidates will be evaluated.

The post Vietnam’s FPT Adds AI Skills Test for New Hires, but Key Details Remain Unclear appeared first on TechRepublic.

Bellevue, Wash.-based hiring technology company Humanly has acquired CareerArc to merge its artificial intelligence screening tools with software that helps employers attract job applicants.

The deal announced Wednesday brings together Humanly’s automated chat and interview systems with CareerArc’s social media recruiting and career-site mapping platforms.

The transaction follows an aggressive M&A streak for Humanly, which includes its acquisition of employee engagement platform Anthill earlier this year and a trio of other recruiting tech acquisitions in 2025 — Sprockets, Qualifi, and HourWork.

Founded in 2018, Humanly builds software designed to automate candidate engagement, screening, and interviewing for high-volume employers.

“High volume employers have had to piece together their hiring process with a collection of disconnected tools,” Co-founder and CEO Prem Kumar said in a statement, noting that the deal helps bridge the gap by reaching candidates earlier in the search process.

Founded in 2009, Burbank, Calif.-based CareerArc provides recruitment marketing tools — including social recruiting software and interactive career-site mapping — to help employers reach and convert job seekers.

Its core offerings include HireSocial, a social media recruitment platform designed to automate job postings, and Job Maps, an interactive career-site tool that lets candidates explore open positions visually by location.

Humanly, which is No. 147 on the GeekWire 200 ranked index of the Pacific Northwest’s top startups, raised $25 million in Series B funding in April. The startup has raised $52 million to date.

Humanly counts Microsoft, Domino’s, Massage Envy, Worldwide Flight Services, and MGM Resorts and Casinos among its more than 120 customers.

Nine of CareerArc’s 13 employees are joining Humanly, which now employs 50 people.