Home » Employment News » Amazon is reshaping the San Joaquin job market as it builds the latest facility

Amazon is reshaping the San Joaquin job market as it builds the latest facility

By Nagasunder in Employment News, posted September 28, 2021

Amazon warehouse has purchased 10 million square feet of property in San Joaquin County in the last eight years, which is approximately 12 times the size of Weberstown Mall.

According to the San Joaquin Partnership, the e-commerce behemoth continues to grow. Amazon's new Stockton shipping center will be the company's fourth in the city and 11th in the county. 'There’s something for everyone':Stockton Amazon center is hiring thousands of jobs.

The demand for workers from e-commerce jobs companies is changing the local labor market: according to a 2019 report from the University of the Pacific's Center for Business and Policy Research, San Joaquin County was one of the first places in the country to see transportation and warehousing employment surpass retail employment.

According to the research, the county has the second-highest concentration of transportation and warehouse jobs among all metropolitan regions in the United States.

According to Carrie Wright, Stockton's economic development director, e-commerce companies are trying to take advantage of the county's central location and growing workforce. In addition to its port, Stockton has substantial road and rail links, and she added that unlike many other sections of California, the city and county's populations are expanding.

“We were approached with a very aggressive timeline to have that facility built," Wright said. "And we worked to do that so that we could make sure that it could open and that we could provide 2,000 additional jobs."

According to Amazon, the new facility hires 2,200 full and part-time jobs with pay starting at $17.55 per hour. Wright estimates that 7,550 people work in logistics in Stockton and as of July, Amazon employs between 8,900 and 10,400 people in the county, according to the San Joaquin Partnership.

These jobs have a reputation for being difficult. According to the Associated Press, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill on Wednesday prohibiting large shops like Amazon from terminating employees for missing quotas that interfere with breaks.

However, warehouse occupations have their benefits: according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average warehousing and storage worker made $990 per week in 2020, whereas the average food and beverage service worker made $410 per week. Because Amazon warehouse jobs do not require résumés, they can be a useful method for first-time job searchers to build work histories, according to Thomas Pogue, director of the Center for Business and Policy Research.

Amazon recently announced plans to expand its Upskilling programs, which provide workers education and skills training to "help them secure new, high-growth jobs."

“The City of Stockton is looking to attract companies that hire for a variety of opportunities, whether that be entry-level, or more advanced, or management," Wright said. "So we always want to look to have a balance.”

Source: Stockton Record