Amazon’s Early Pandemic Hiring Spree Mostly People of Color

Three of every five workers Amazon.com Inc. added to its rolls in the U.S. during the year ended October 2020 were people of color in laborer jobs, suggesting the company weathered the pandemic’s surge in online shopping thanks to members of racial groups that are underrepresented in the retailer’s corporate ranks.

The statistics come from reports for 2020 and 2019 that Amazon provided the government, which were posted Wednesday on the company’s workforce data web page. Employers are required annually to submit that data, which breaks down their U.S. workforce by racial and gender groups and standardized job categories, ...