SEATTLE, 2017-Jan-05 — /EPR Retail News/ — Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) today (Jan. 4, 2017) announced plans to open a second fulfillment center in Jacksonville, Florida. The facility will add more than 1,000 full-time jobs with benefits starting on day one. In the Sunshine State, Amazon currently employs more than 4,000 full-time employees.
“We’re excited to further expand our presence in the state with this new fulfillment center in Jacksonville,” said Akash Chauhan, Amazon’s vice president of North American operations. “Florida has been an ideal location to help enable superfast shipping speeds to customers and a source of exceptional talent for Amazon. We’re proud to be creating great jobs with benefits for Floridians.”
“Six months after announcing a major fulfillment center in Jacksonville, Amazon is again choosing Jacksonville as the site of another facility that will create an additional 1,000 new jobs, bringing the company’s announced footprint in Jacksonville to 2,500 jobs,” said Aaron Bowman, senior vice president of JAXUSA Partnership. “Landing a second facility in such a short amount of time further solidifies the JAX region as a place of unlimited opportunity, fueled by possibilities.”
During the past three years, Amazon has announced multiple facilities in Florida including four fulfillment centers, two sortation centers as well as Prime Now hubs in Miami, Tampa and Orlando. At the new 1-million-square-foot fulfillment center in Jacksonville, employees will pick, pack and ship large items like household decor, sporting equipment and gardening tools.
Governor Rick Scott said, “Amazon’s decision to continue investing and creating jobs in our state is great news. I look forward to celebrating the many new job opportunities Amazon will bring to Jacksonville families and their continued success across Florida.”
Full-time employees at Amazon receive competitive hourly wages and a comprehensive benefits package, including healthcare, 401(k) and company stock awards starting on day one, as well as generous maternity and parental leave benefits.
“Amazon.com has been one of Florida’s best job creators since they announced their first project three years ago,” said Mike Grissom, executive vice president of Enterprise Florida, Inc. “Since that first announcement, the company has created thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in capital investments across the state. This most recent project in Jacksonville is another great win for Florida and we thank Amazon for their continued investment and job creation.”
In addition to competitive wages and comprehensive benefits, Amazon also offers employees innovative programs like Career Choice, where it will pre-pay 95 percent of tuition for courses related to in-demand fields, regardless of whether the skills are relevant to a career at Amazon. Since the program’s launch four years ago, more than 7,000 employees in 10 countries have pursued degrees in game design and visual communications, nursing, IT programming and radiology, to name a few.
Cissy Proctor, executive director of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, said, “Amazon’s expansion to the Jacksonville area is a great opportunity for North Florida job seekers to get a job in Florida’s competitive logistics industry. We are thankful for Amazon’s commitment to Florida and look forward to its creation of more than 1,000 new jobs in Jacksonville.”
“This is an exciting development for Jacksonville and the Cecil Commerce Center,” said Mayor Lenny Curry. “The center is a tremendous asset for our city offering companies like Amazon ample space, resources and accessibility. In addition to the state-of-the art fulfillment and distribution center to be located in northwest Jacksonville, I am looking forward to Amazon’s expanding presence in our city and contributions to its continued economic development and growth.”
To learn more about working at an Amazon fulfillment center, visit www.amazondelivers.jobs.
About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about
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Source: Amazon.com, Inc.