Published June 12, 2023
Amazon To Bring More Than 800 Jobs At New 1.2 Million-Square-Foot Facility In Mesa
Amazon To Bring More Than 800 Jobs At New 1.2 Million-Square-Foot Facility In Mesa
by Maritza Dominguez
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Amazon's new 1.2 million-square-foot facility, its largest distribution center in the nation, will create more than 800 jobs in the East Valley. The "storage and distribution center," the first of its kind in the state, will have its grand opening Friday and promises to make remote shopping a little easier for people throughout metro Phoenix.
The facility, focused on housing third-party businesses’ stock items sold on Amazon’s website, is located along Elliot and Hawes roads in Mesa. Rodney Huffman, the general manager of the center, has worked for Amazon for more than a decade and has seen how the company’s presence has grown in metro Phoenix and more specifically on the west side of Maricopa County. As a longtime resident of the East Valley, he’s looking forward to building Amazon’s presence there. He knew Amazon’s growth would reach Mesa because of the investment happening around Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.
Amazon employees that using forklift-like equipment that also moves up and down in order to reach the high-shelving units
Large centers like this new one need to build from the ground up in undeveloped areas to accommodate the scope of work and storage, Huffman said. The center has started operations but likely won’t be fully operational until August when hiring is done.
Jobs at new facility: Huffman said he’s in the middle of a hiring blitz to fill the 800 to 900 jobs that are available. At full capacity, the center could employ up to 1,300 workers. The average pay will range from $15 to $21 an hour, depending on experience and shift.
A lot of employees that work in the West Valley who live in Mesa, Queen Creek, or Florence are considering transferring to the East Valley center, Huffman said. The center will bring them a better quality of life to not have to make the one-hour or more commute, he said. It’s an effort by the city to build up employment options in southeast Mesa to keep jobs in the city and bring down commute times for its residents.
Amazon opens its biggest in Mesa
Tom Orr, Senior Manager at Mesa's East Valley Center, inspects the shelves. The empty shelves will eventually be filled by products ready to be sent to fulfillment centers , where customers' orders are managed.
What happens inside Amazon’s new building: A report from Amazon showed that more than 60% of sales are from independent sellers, many small to medium-sized businesses. The new facility will house products from independent sellers at a lower rate than if they stored them on their own.
Products at the Elliot Road facility are taken off the shelf once stock is low at the fulfillment center, where most orders are packaged. Huffman said this helps ensure customers don’t see any interruptions to their shopping. The building is a relatively new concept to the company which was introduced during COVID-19-related supply chain issues.
In Arizona, 10,000 independent sellers use Amazon to sell their products and last year sold more than 44 million products, according to the company.
Amazon’s footprint in metro Phoenix: The company has more than 33,000 full and part-time employees in Arizona, according to data provided by Amazon. In Arizona, there are 17 "fulfillment and sortation centers" and 13 "delivery stations." With Mesa's new center, customers throughout the Valley who buy items sold by third-party businesses are less likely to see a product go out of stock.
In 2019, Amazon was the metro Phoenix’s 19th largest employer, according to The Arizona Republic database.
