Amazon now employs more than 21,000 veterans and military spouses in full- and part-time roles across the U.S. and is on track to surpass its pledge to hire more than 25,000 by 2021. Since announcing the commitment, Amazon has continued to invest in military hiring programs and launch initiatives like the Amazon Apprenticeship—an upskilling program that trains military spouses and veterans for in-demand roles like cloud computing. More than 500 veterans and military spouses have taken advantage of this program and are moving towards becoming full-time Amazonians.

Amazon has also increased its commitment from $1 million to $3 million to support veterans interested in starting their own package delivery business as Amazon Delivery Service Partners, offering $10,000 in reimbursements to help cover the startup costs for qualified candidates. About one-third of Amazon Delivery Service Partners are veterans. There are also thousands of veteran, active military, and businesses with military family members selling in Amazon’s U.S. stores.

"From building training programs that help veterans and military spouses gain in-demand skills, to empowering veteran entrepreneurs to grow their businesses, we’re proud to continue supporting the military community," said John Quintas, director of military affairs at Amazon. "We’re committed to investing in the military community and introducing initiatives that make their lives easier."

Veterans Day Prime promotion (Nov 6-11)

Amazon is introducing a new, limited-time Prime promotion for Veterans Day as another way to recognize the commitment and service of the military community. Starting today through November 11, current and former members of U.S. armed forces (Active Duty, Veterans, National Guard and Reserve Personnel) can sign up for a year of Prime membership for just $79 ($40 in savings). New and existing Prime members can take advantage of this promotion. Customers can learn more and sign up for the promotion here.

Military Family Small Businesses on Amazon

Starting today, customers can show their support for veteran, active duty, and military spouse owned small businesses selling in Amazon’s stores by visiting the new Military Family Small Business page on Amazon Storefronts. Amazon Storefronts is a curated destination to shop exclusively from American small and medium-sized businesses featuring more than 2.5 million products from nearly 30,000 companies. In the last twelve months, U.S. small and medium-sized businesses with products in Storefronts have sold more than 250 million items to more than 70 million customers. More than half of all items sold in Amazon’s stores worldwide are from small and medium-sized businesses.

Veterans build businesses on Amazon

AmazonSmile donations

Additionally, throughout the year, customers can easily support military affiliated charitable organizations by shopping on AmazonSmile—a way for customers to support their favorite charity when they shop with Amazon, at no extra cost. Customers who start their shopping at Amazon Smile will find the same Amazon they know and love, with the added bonus that AmazonSmile will donate a portion of the purchase price of eligible items to their favorite charitable organization. There are more than one million charitable organizations to choose from on AmazonSmile.

Learn more about Amazon’s efforts for the military community.