TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla — Amazon’s new 465,000 square foot Robotic Fulfillment Center in Temple Terrace is about a month away from opening with the goal of getting your packages to you quicker.
“The drives are constantly working, 24/7,” said Katelyn Ackley, an Amazon Deployment Engineer, who showed off the blue robotic machines and pods, Thursday. “They never take a break, they’re always workings always ready to work.”
It’s what they’re designed to do and also save employees from having to walk a lot.
“They’re able to bring pods over, and move pods, they can carry a great amount of weight and be very efficient at moving that weight at a good speed,” Ackley said.
Amazon wants to hire about 1,000 full-time employees to work at the state-of-the-art facility with a starting pay of $15 an hour plus benefits.
They also say a $1.2 billion investment will go toward paying tuition for at least 300,000 employees so they can get a degree in a high-demand career field.
“We would love for you to get whatever you’re passionate about and stay with us. There are lots of different types of jobs at Amazon, but if you want to go do something else, maybe you want to be a nurse at a hospital, we don’t care. We support your passions,” said Robert Packett, Amazon’s Regional Director of Operations for the South East United States.
Right now, Amazon has seven fulfillment centers in Florida, the Temple Terrace location would be the eighth.
Packett says building up the community helps everyone grow.
“This community is going to be filled with thousands of Amazonians, and they are going to be the people that we come to work with every day, our kids go to school together, and we have to create a positive environment within our community that grows the talent level,” he said.
The mayor of Temple Terrace told ABC Action News in such a competitive market they were able to secure the facility because they were able to get their permits and inspections processed quickly and he says that attracts development.
“That certainly was an attraction to them, I can tell you early on that was a question they asked, is how long will it take us to get this project permitted and inspected," said Andy Ross. "We worked very hard to make that happen on a very efficient timeline, which we do not just for amazon but for others too!”
If you’re interested in working at the facility, click here to apply.
