Cleveland, OH - Amazon’s new fulfillment center in Akron, OH is officially open for business. Amazon welcomed new associates inside the 640,000 square-foot building for the first time this month to celebrate its Day One of operation. Employees at this site will play integral roles within Amazon’s customer fulfillment operations – everything from receiving inventory, picking and shipping customer orders, and supporting network logistics by working alongside Amazon Robotics.
On top of Amazon’s $15 minimum wage, the company offers all full-time employees comprehensive benefits including full medical, vision, and dental insurance as well as 401(k) with a 50 percent match starting on day one. The company also offers up to 20 weeks of maternal and parental paid leave and innovative benefits such as Leave Share and Ramp Back, which give new parents flexibility with their growing families. In addition, Amazon has pledged to invest over $700 million to provide upskilling training for 100,000 U.S. employees for in demand jobs. Programs will help Amazonians from all backgrounds access training to move into highly skilled roles across the company’s corporate offices, tech hubs, fulfillment centers, retails stores, and transportation network, or pursue career paths outside of Amazon
Amazon is proud to give back to the communities where employees live and work. To celebrate their opening, leaders at the new fulfillment center surprised Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank with a $25,000 monetary donation. The funding will help the foodbank support increased demand due to COVID-19 and payment for food related to shortages throughout the province.
“Amazon has a great record of supporting hunger relief through America’s food banks. Before they even opened their new Akron distribution center, they reached out to us wanting to partner – showing their commitment to the local community and its residents,” said Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank President and CEO Dan Flowers. “We are so grateful for their support and look forward to this new partnership. This generous donation will help the Foodbank provide the equivalent of 100,000 meals for local families, families who could really use the help right now as they try to rebound from the effects of the pandemic. Community partners like Amazon enable this Foodbank to serve as the difference between hunger and hope for our neighbors in need.”
Since 2010, Amazon has created more than 23,000 jobs in Ohio and invested more than $5.9 billion across the state, including infrastructure (8 Fulfillment and sortation centers, 6 Delivery stations, 12 Whole Foods Market locations, 4 Amazon Hub Locker+ locations, 1 Air hub, and 1 Wind farm) and through compensation. These investments have contributed an additional $5.4 billion to the Ohio economy and have helped create 22,600 indirect jobs on top of Amazon’s direct hires – from jobs in construction and logistics to professional services. In addition, more than 46,500 independent authors and small and medium businesses in Ohio are selling to customers in Amazon’s store, creating thousands of additional jobs across the state.
Amazon prioritizes the safety and health of its employees and has invested millions of dollars to provide a safe workplace.In fact, across our operations Amazon has invested more than $4 billion from June to April on COVID-19 related safety measures. This includes spending more than $800 million dollars in the first half of this year on safety measures like temperature checks, masks, enhanced cleaning, gloves, and sanitation stations, to name a few. In these unprecedented times, Amazon remains committed to the health and safety of our employees, partners, and the customers we serve.
Positions are still available at the Akron fulfillment center. Interested candidates can visit http://amazon.com/apply or sign up for text alerts by texting AKCNOW to 77088 to learn more about job openings.
Photos courtesy of Amazon & Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank
(Copyright, iHeartMedia, 2020)
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