Amazon has made its first serious foray into the so-called “gig economy,” advertising for part-time delivery drivers in Seattle as part of a programme called “Amazon Flex”. The move comes before the bustlingly busy November and December holiday shopping period. Plus they’ll have to pass a background check.
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The workers, who will be working with the online retailer on the new service, will get an opportunity to make between $18 and $25 per hour by just delivering packages for Amazon using their own vehicle and a smartphone app through which they will route their deliveries.
Amazon Flex is set to eventually launch in a number of major markets in the United States, specifically major Amazon Prime Now markets, such as New York, Dallas, Chicago, Miami, Baltimore, Austin, Indianapolis, Portland, and Atlanta.
The service has gone live in Seattle, where Amazon is headquartered.
This is likely due to the ongoing San-Francisco-based class-action lawsuit now ongoing against Uber to have Uber drivers reclassified as “employees” rather than “contractors”, and thus worthy of benefits, which could potentially have strong effects on the Amazon Flex program. According to one report, the average “hourly wage” for a Mechanical Turk worker was between $1 and $5 in 2013.
It now offers Prime Now in 11 cities with across the country with plans to roll out to more.
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However, all is not gravy and smiling deliveries with Amazon Flex.
