Amazon to spend $120bn at US suppliers in 2021

This doesn’t include any of the products the e-commerce giant buys and sells to customers in its stores

Last year Amazon hired over 400,000 employees and currently has more than 30,000 vacancies. AFP

Amazon aims to spend $120 billion in purchasing equipment, supplies and services from more than 200,000 businesses in the US this year, the company said.

The purchases, which are up nearly 20 per cent on an annual basis, include equipment for logistics sites, supplies for corporate offices and services for construction, design and engineering projects.

This doesn’t include any of the products Amazon buys and sells to customers in its stores, the Seattle-based company said.

Amazon relies on American businesses to keep its operations running, from electric vehicle manufacturers to companies that make office supplies.

“After an especially trying year for many companies in the US, Amazon is on pace to support them to the tune of $120bn,” Amazon said in a statement.

The 2021 spending by Amazon will support an additional 840,000 American jobs, according to an independent analysis from consultancy Keystone Economics. Those jobs are in industries like construction, transportation, manufacturing and hospitality.

Last year Amazon hired over 400,000 employees and currently has more than 30,000 vacancies. It employs more than 950,000 people in the US and over 2 million American businesses, content creators, developers and delivery providers use its products and services.

Amazon, which postponed the date for corporate workers to return to the office until early next year, posted an almost 50 per cent year-on-year surge in its second quarter net profit, underpinned by online shopping growth during the pandemic.

It soared to $7.8bn, almost $2.6bn more than the same period last year.