When Amazon opens its new fulfillment facility in Akron, it will be the third in Northeast Ohio. One in Euclid is preparing to launch, and one in North Randall opened in October 2018. All three are sited where shopping malls used to be.
In North Randall, Mayor David Smith said Amazon has exceeded the city’s expectations.
“They said they were going to hire 2,500, and then to my amazement it was like 3,500 when they first opened,” he said. “Then through attrition people don’t make it. It fluctuates. They’re probably at about 1,900 now. They ramp up during the holiday season. We were told this location could swell to about 5,000.”
The retail giant offers good benefits and pays a minimum wage of $15 per hour. Positions are expected to range from entry level to leadership roles.
Amazon touts its working environment as exciting and fast paced. Smith hears firsthand about it from his two college-aged daughters who are working there this summer. He said so far Amazon is living up to the hype.
“It’s a very diverse culture,” Smith said. “Some people I talk to say it’s like a party going to work. Some people it talk to say that it’s very demanding. But everybody that I talk to they talk about the opportunities.”
A spokesman for Amazon wrote in an email that hiring usually begins a couple months before the facility opens, and the timeline for the Akron opening is expected to move quickly.
For more information on Amazon employment, visit the website.
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