Amazon will pay you to stay home, work customer service

Amazon is creating more than 5,000 new part-time roles nationwide in its virtual customer service program.

The jobs will be rolled out over the next year. Employees who work 20 hours per week or more will receive competitive wages, benefits, including prepaid college tuition for in-demand fields, according to an Amazon news release.

Employees can work from home as a customer service representative. In a response to emailed questions, an Amazon representative told The News Tribune that the jobs comply with local minimum wage laws. That means workers in Tacoma would earn the city’s minimum wage. In January that wage increased to $11.15 per hour. Washington state’s minimum wage is $11 per hour.

Currently the company is looking to hire someone fluent in Japanese for a work-from-home position, and will be hiring more workers in Washington state throughout the year.

“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,” said Tom Weiland, Amazon vice president for worldwide customer service.

The jobs are also being marketed to military spouses, who have to upend their career paths whenever their spouse is called to another duty station.

Seattle-based Amazon employs more than 10,000 military veterans and last year pledged to hire another 25,000 veterans and spouses within the next five years.

More than 70 percent of the company’s virtual customer service employees work more than 20 hours per week, the news release says.

To learn more about jobs at Amazon, log on to amazondelivers.jobs.

This story was originally published April 8, 2017 at 8:13 AM with the headline "Amazon will pay you to stay home, work customer service."