Why is this still happening? Amazon, especially, is very very bad with this. I have heard too many stories from friends and the internet in which people accept an Amazon position out of desperation to work, and they are given part-time hours and fired after a few months. This is obviously a tactic for employers to avoid handing out benefits, and when a company like Amazon is the only place to work in a town they begin a cycle of unemployment.
I understand smaller businesses may see a rush around the holiday season and hire people knowing they are going to be laid off, but this is just too economically irresponsible and inhumane for mega corporations to be participating. Just to add more to the Amazon example – they also immediately shut down plans to unionize which shows zero intent to stop this hire-to-fire practice.