US retail giant Amazon has announced its plans to open a nearly 1 million-square-foot fulfillment center in Kent, Washington, to create hundreds of full-time jobs at the site. This will be Amazon’s fourth fulfillment center in the state. Amazon’s other Washington fulfillment centers are located in Sumner, Bellevue, and a DuPont site is near completion.
“We’re excited to bring hundreds of great full-time jobs with benefits to Kent and proud to further invest in Washington state with this new fulfillment center,” said Mike Roth, Amazon’s vice president of North America operations. “We are grateful to local and state elected officials who have supported Amazon in bringing a new fulfillment center to the state of Washington.”
According to Amazon, they offer hourly employees innovative programs like Career Choice, where the company pre-pay up to 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 last summer, employees are pursuing degrees in game design and visual communications, nursing, IT programming and radiology, to name a few. Amazon fulfillment center jobs pay on average 30 percent more than traditional retail jobs. In addition to highly competitive wages, Amazon also offers comprehensive benefits on day one, bonuses and stock awards.
At the proposed, Amazon employees will pick, pack and ship small items to customers such as books, electronics and consumer goods.
“Amazon’s decision to invest in Kent is a tremendous vote of confidence in our community,” said Kent Mayor Suzette Cooke. “This announcement signifies we have the infrastructure, the workforce and the business-friendly climate needed to support a company like Amazon. This bodes well for Kent’s future in attracting high-tech industries.”
