Amazon hosting 15,000 interns this year, its largest class ever, using a mostly hybrid model – GeekWire

Amazon will host more than 15,000 interns from across the world this year, setting the stage for its largest class ever. 

The Seattle tech giant says that most of its interns will be working in some form of hybrid model this year, a move that shows the company is embracing at least some form of work-from-home options, while other tech companies are debating remote work altogether. 

“In this model, interns relocate to (or already live in) the city of their internship, so they can commute to their assigned Amazon office,” the company said in a blog post. “Interns work with their manager and team to schedule a mix of in-office and work-from-home days.”

Amazon has been adapting its internship program since the start of the pandemic, growing in size each year. In 2020, the company hosted more than 8,000 interns virtually. And last year, the company gave more than 10,000 interns the option to either work from home or opt for a hybrid model. 

Amazon originally planned to bring corporate employees back to the office en masse in early January 2021. But in October, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told employees that the company will instead leave remote work decisions to individual team leaders at the director level.

The company says it is currently looking for prospective interns across all business lines, including engineering, managerial and financial roles. 

Amazon does not track which specific collegiate majors that tend to fare better in their chances of being selected, a company representative told GeekWire. The company also does not track or publicize the regional breakdowns of its hiring, the representative added. 

Amazon’s interns are among the nation’s top earners, receiving a median monthly salary of $8,000, the fifth-highest amount for any U.S.-based internship, according to a study by Glassdoor. 

Back in 2017, when Amazon’s internship was largely in-person, the influx of interns in Seattle put a stress on the public transportation system. King County Metro, the city’s public transit agency, added two additional buses to its rotation in part to handle the interns headed to South Lake Union, where Amazon’s campus is located. 

There is no application deadline for internships and full-time positions, with most roles posted in late summer. Students interested in applying can visit Amazon’s Opportunities for Students page.