The U.S. retail industry is hiring at a record pace. In June, the industry saw 1.1 million job openings even after more than 1.1 million workers got hired in a massive hiring spree, reported NPR (Aug. 26).

Still, employment in retail was down by 29,000 jobs in August, with the bulk coming from food and beverage stores (-23,000), according to Bureau of Labor Statistics. The lack of workers in recent months has forced businesses to get creative to attract workers, offering new perks and increased wages.

Now, with the holiday season around the corner, retailers are pushing even harder for workers and, in some cases, it’s paying off, to an extent.

One million people from around the world applied for jobs at Amazon during a recent recruiting event, reported CBS News (Sept. 17). The hiring push follows the company’s recent announcement that it plans to hire 125,000 warehouse and transportation workers in the U.S., with those roles offering average starting wages of $18 an hour and some paying as much as $22.50 an hour.

On top of the new jobs in warehousing and transportation, Amazon also has 40,000 open corporate tech roles.  In the U.S. alone, the company received about 500,000 applications for openings.