Amazon has one of the most flexible remote work policies of any major corporation: the company allows both its salaried employees and its hourly-wage customer service representatives to work from home full-time, even going so far as shutting down many of its physical call centers.
This article focuses primarily on Amazon’s work from home customer service positions, explaining how to find these jobs, how to apply, and what to expect if you get hired.
Where to Find Amazon Work From Home Jobs
- You can search all Amazon jobs here. Whether or not these positions offer a remote work option is up to the management of the team you’d be joining, and the job listing may not explicitly state whether the role is a remote position.
- You can see designated Amazon remote jobs here. These positions are designed with flexibility in mind and often have systems in place to make working from home easy.
- You can see Amazon customer service jobs here. The shift to remote work for its customer service associate positions is relatively recent, so not all job listings in this category reflect the current flex-work policy.
- If you’re a career-track professional with technical skills, you can see remote-only jobs available in the Amazon Web Services division here.
Amazon Virtual Call Center/Chat Support Agents
Virtual call center and chat support agents help customers with problems like missing, damaged or late orders; provide support to Amazon delivery drivers who are lost or missing a package; and provide support to Amazon’s third-party marketplace sellers.
Amazon has a history of hiring for this role in batches. So, one good strategy is to set up a Google alert for phrases like “Amazon is hiring remote workers.” You’ll then get notified whenever there’s a press release or a news story about a new hiring spree.
Otherwise, you’ll have to check the Amazon customer service jobs page on a regular basis, as there’s no way to set up a job alert directly on Amazon.
Other options: If you’re looking for a flexible customer service associate position, there are a number of companies that hire at-home phone and chat agents.
Required Skills and Experience
You typically only need a high school diploma to get hired for Amazon customer service jobs. To qualify, you’ll need a high-speed internet connection and appropriate technology (like a high-quality headset).
Applicants should be familiar with online shopping, plus have basic computer skills including Microsoft Office, email, and virtual chat technology. Experience as a work-from-home customer service agent is preferred, but not required.
Applicants may also have to pass an assessment test and criminal background check, because some positions give agents access to sensitive customer information.
One perk is that as an Amazon customer service agent, you’re considered an Amazon employee rather than a contract worker (as is the case for many virtual jobs). That means you may be eligible for benefits like health insurance, depending on how many hours you work.
Schedule and Pay
These are largely part-time positions, requiring 20 to 29 hours per week. However, employees must be available full-time (up to 40 hours per week) during the holiday shopping season in November and December. Vacations are not approved during peak season and employees are required to work on holidays. If you’re a student, Amazon will try to work around your school schedule.
Employees in the United States are paid between $15 and $20 per hour, with the opportunity to earn performance-based bonuses and perks (including an employee discount). Shifts include days, evenings, weekends, and sometimes overtime. Employees become eligible for medical benefits after 90 days.
How to Apply
Those interested in applying for a position as an Amazon work from home call center agent can browse the job listings here.
If you find an opening, click on the job you want to apply for and read the full description; they often have specific eligibility criteria that isn’t immediately obvious (such as only being open to residents of a particular state).
You’ll need to create an account that’s separate from the Amazon account you shop with. Once you’ve created an account, you can complete the online application.
If selected for an interview, you’ll be required to take multiple assessments — each of which lasts about 30 minutes and involves reacting to situations you’ll encounter in the position.
Other Amazon Work From Home Jobs
If you’re looking for a career with Amazon rather than a part-time gig, but you still want to work from home, there are many opportunities.
For example, while you might think any position relating to human resources would have to be done on-site, Amazon frequently offers remote HR positions such as benefits support specialists, technical recruiters, and senior human resource investigators.
Amazon employs well over 1 million people, so its HR team must be fully qualified. At a minimum, you’ll need a bachelor’s degree and six years of experience. For managerial positions, you’ll also need at least one year of experience in a supervisory role.
Another example is Amazon Web Services (AWS), which is the company’s cloud computing unit. AWS often hires for remote healthcare tech positions, which are roles that conduct medical research, run hospital systems, and provide high-level tech support to medical schools that use the company’s products.
We’ve included these jobs as examples of the type of career-track positions you can find with the company. Obviously, the specific opportunities change constantly.
That said, if you have at least a bachelor’s degree with a little bit of professional experience, you may be able to find something that allows you to work from home while staying in your current field.
Further reading: The best legit online jobs that pay $50,000+ from home.
More Ways to Make Money From Home With Amazon
There are a number of other ways to make money from home with Amazon.
- Sell items: Many of the products sold on Amazon are listed by private, third-party sellers rather than by Amazon itself. One of the best ways to sell on the site is by leveraging the Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA) program, which allows you to ship products to the company and have them handle the storage, packing, and order fulfillment. Check out our complete guide to making money as an FBA seller, which goes into detail about the different ways to succeed with the program.
- Amazon Mechanical Turk: Known as “MTurk,” this platform pays users for doing micro-tasks like moderating content, answering survey questions and verifying information. Businesses post tasks to the site and users select the ones they want to complete. You’ll be paid in cash through Amazon Payments or with Amazon gift cards, although it’s worth noting that pay rates can be depressingly low.
- Amazon Associates: Bloggers make money through Amazon via its affiliate marketing program. Simply put, when a customer buys a product on Amazon after clicking a link on your blog, you get a cut of that sale. It can be a lucrative way to monetize online content, and if you’re interested in learning more, you can read through our guide to starting a blog that actually makes money.
- Amazon Influencer: This program gives you a page on Amazon with a URL to talk about products you recommend to those who follow you. Like the Amazon Associates program, you make money when someone uses your link to make a purchase. To qualify, you must have a YouTube, Instagram, Twitter or Facebook account.
- Amazon Merch on Demand: This program lets you design and sell products like custom t-shirts on Amazon. The shirts are printed as they’re ordered and you get a royalty for each order. There’s no up-front cost to you. One user was averaging more than $3,000 a month in net revenue and working just two or three hours per day.
- Kindle: You can write and publish e-books and paperbacks through Kindle Direct Publishing. It’s free to do so and your book will appear on Kindle stores around the world in 24 to 48 hours. Writers keep up to 70% of their gross sales.
- Amazon Flex: This isn’t a work from home job, but delivering packages for Amazon Flex does give you a great degree of flexibility over your schedule. Drivers are paid twice a week via direct deposit, so it’s a great job if you need to make money fast. Learn more in our Amazon Flex beginner’s guide, which explains how the platform works and how to get started.
Resource: Working as a freelance delivery driver can be one of the most lucrative side hustles. Here’s a list of the best options.
Amazon Work From Home Job FAQs
Amazon allows almost all of its employees to work from home, so there’s no set pay range. However, Amazon employees have reported that at-home customer service agents make $24 per hour on average, when bonuses are added into their base wages.
No, but you can find data entry jobs on Amazon’s MTurk platform. Keep in mind that these jobs are posted by third parties, so you won’t be working directly for Amazon. You can also refer to our list of the best online typing jobs, which primarily highlights data entry positions.
All Amazon employees must be at least 18 years old, even for remote jobs. If you’re younger than 18 and looking for a remote position, check out our list of the best online jobs for teens.
Working Remotely for Amazon: Final Thoughts
Amazon used to have a limited number of work at home opportunities, but as the employment landscape has changed in recent years, the company’s policy has been increasingly generous towards flex work. This means there’s never been a better time to get your foot in the door with the company.
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