Amazon plans to hire about 5,000 more workers across metro Atlanta, including hundreds at its Stone Mountain facility, the largest in the metro area.
The world’s largest online retailer operates about 30 facilities in metro Atlanta, and wants to add upwards of 500 workers at the Stone Mountain facility in Gwinnett County. Across Georgia, Amazon hopes to fill more than 9,000 full- and part-time positions at more than 50 facilities, the company announced Tuesday.
Amazon’s fulfillment and transportation workers receive starting pay of at least $15 per hour. The company offers an average starting pay of more than $18 per hour and up to $22.50 per hour in some locations, sign-on bonuses up to $3,000 in select locations, benefits and access to training programs.
The company’s 650,000-square-foot Stone Mountain facility that opened last year currently employs roughly 5,000 full-time employees, said Nikki Forman, a senior public relations manager at Amazon. The new hiring push comes as the online retail giant prepares to expand its reach across the state, she said.
Amazon plans to open new delivery stations this year in Alpharetta, Duluth, Doraville and Forest Park, as well as fulfillment centers in Appling and Union City. It will also open a center in Savannah in 2022.
Interested candidates can learn more about the positions and apply at www.amazon.com/apply.
Full-time employees receive health, vision and dental insurance, 401(k) with 50% company match, up to 20 weeks paid parental leave and access to college tuition assistance. Workers at Amazon’s fulfillment centers show up for 10-hour shifts with two 30-minute breaks, one paid and one unpaid.
National and local news outlets have reported extensively on work conditions at Amazon’s facilities, interviewing workers who cite unsafe and stressful environments. Workers at several U.S. facilities have protested against the online retail giant over the past few years, and efforts to unionize have failed.
Earlier this month, the federal government stopped paying enhanced jobless benefits to laid-off workers around the nation. In June, Georgia cut off federal benefits to unemployed individuals in the state, which Gov. Brian Kemp has argued would convince people to reenter the workforce.
Companies across the nation have struggled to hire new workers during the pandemic, as some workers worried about their health, struggled to find adequate childcare or avoided low-paying jobs.
The number of jobless claims processed by Georgia’s Department of Labor has steadily declined in 2021, though still remaining higher than pre-pandemic levels. In August, the number of claims averaged 10,385 compared to an April average of 33,288, according to the U.S. Employment and Training Administration.
Forman believes Amazon’s benefit package and starting pay attracts workers to its facilities. “The benefits are the benefit,” she said.
AJC staff writer Michael Kanell contributed to this report.
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