Amazon.com Is Building a Fulfillment Center in Portland

Jeremy Raglin

By PDX People

PORTLAND, Ore. – Searching for a job in Portland Oregon? The good news for People from Portland Oregon is that many companies are expanding and creating more Portland Oregon jobs including amazon.com who is in the process of building a fulfillment center in North Portland that’s going to create 1,000 or more jobs for the area.

Amazon’s Love for Oregon

After acquiring another industry giant, Whole Foods, Amazon.com is showing that now is the perfect time for the company to expand, especially in the Portland area where they will be hiring many PDX people for their North Portland fulfillment center and the company plans on opening new fulfillment centers in Salem and Troutdale Oregon next year as well.

“Amazon could invest anywhere in the world, and they are showing over and over again that they believe Oregon is the place to build, innovate and grow,” Chris Harder, the director of state economic development agency Business Oregon, said in a statement.

Amazon said workers at the new facility will pack and ship large items like sports equipment, gardening tools, and pet food. The company said the Portland center will allow faster delivery to metro-area customers, particularly members of its Prime subscription service.

The company has dramatically ramped up its warehousing and distribution presence across the country as it seeks to reduce shipping costs and times. In some markets, including Portland, it offers delivery of some products in a matter of hours, not days.

The announcement comes as Seattle-based Amazon is shopping for a second headquarters. More than 101 cities, states, provinces and counties in the U.S. and Canada – including Portland and Vancouver, Washington — have already signaled plans to bid on the $5 billion project and the 50,000 or so new jobs that come with it.

Good for Workers

Although some economists were not excited about Amazon’s plans for building another fulfillment center in Portland, the good news is that this move is good news for People from Portland Oregon, especially blue-collar workers, who have had a difficult time over the last 4 years finding good paying jobs.

A typical amazon.com warehouse employee earns up to $23 per hour and although that’s not much considering the average rent in Portland the good news is that Amazon does offer excellent benefit packages.

Amazon’s warehouse workers, however, get the same benefits package as the tech company’s higher-earning software engineers, which includes health care, a 401(k)-retirement plan and company stock awards. The company also offers paid parental leave and tuition assistance, perks typical of tech companies but not usually available to warehouse workers.