Amazon.com Inc unveiled a new hiring program on Monday, which includes more than 5,000 new full-time jobs in its U.S. fulfillment network to meet growing customer demand. Amazon.com's announcement comes ahead of a visit by President Barack Obama to one of the Internet retailer's giant distribution warehouses this week.

Amazon is looking to fill more than 5,000 new full-time jobs at 17 of its fulfillment centers across the United States. The company has been building lots of new fulfillment centers closer to customers in recent years as the company tries to speed up delivery of online orders and reduce shipping costs.

Amazon needs a lot of workers to pick, pack and ship orders alongside high tech robots that whiz around its warehouses.

"We?re hiring more than 5,000 people to join our team and help us continue to innovate and serve our customers," said Dave Clark, vice president of worldwide operations and customer service at Amazon. "We're focused on sustained innovation across Amazon and want to help our employees succeed - whether at Amazon or elsewhere - so we offer programs like Career Choice, where we'll pay for up to 95% of eligible employees' tuition regardless of whether the skills they learn are relevant to a career at Amazon."