Powell’s Books Has Rehired Over 100 Employees To Process Online Orders

The owner and CEO of Powell’s Books, Emily Powell, announced on Friday that the bookstore chain had rehired more than 100 full-time employees in order to process online orders.

The bookstore company had on March 15 closed all five of its Portland, Oregon area locations, due to the difficulty of complying with social distancing guidelines issued in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The re-hired employees are able to work full time, with benefits, according to Powell’s website memo announcing the news.

It’s an example of the uncertaintly dogging employees and employers impacted by the pandemic — in this case, an unexpected boost in online orders through Powells.com led Powell’s to reassess and hire back more than 100 employees.

The 400-member union representing Powell’s employees has stated that around 85% of them had lost their jobs in the March 15 temporary layoff, noting that “[i]n this society, for any crisis event, it appears it is the workers who take the brunt of trauma.”

While the rehiring is welcome news, it’s far from a perfect ending for many workers struggling in the wake of the pandemic. Unemployment had been at a historic low as recently as February. Then 3.3 million US workers filed for unemployment on the same week Powell’s Books shuttered its physical locations. Now, a fraction of those workers have their positions back, as sales shift more fully online.

At this point, it’s safe to say most American workers have job security whiplash. Sadly, the future remains murky, a point Powell acknowledged in her memo.

“We don’t know what the future holds – none of us does. We’re going to keep the doors to Powells.com open as long as we can, and we will open the doors to all of our stores as soon as it is safe to do so,” Powell wrote in the memo, adding that “Your orders allow us to keep working and keep our team of incredible booksellers employed.”

Here’s hoping other bookstore chains can follow suit.

In the meantime, anyone who wishes to can make an online donation to the aforementioned union’s Coronavirus Worker Relief Fund to support those workers who remain laid off. The union also offers a partner link to Powell’s Books that will add 7.5% of all online sales made through that link to the relief fund — a smart way to benefit from the soaring numbers of online orders from book lovers stuck at home.