SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--(NASDAQ: AMZN) – This year, Amazon will celebrate its third year fulfilling customer orders out of Illinois and surpassing the milestone of 10,000 full-time employees in the state with job opportunities for people with all types of experience, education and skill levels—from human resources, engineers and facilities technicians, to those seeking entry-level positions and on-the-job training.
“We couldn’t be prouder to be part of the Illinois family. Our team in the Land of Lincoln has been instrumental in providing outstanding customer experiences, raising the bar on our operational excellence, and continuing to innovate on behalf of the customer. We feel fortunate to have been able to create more than 10,000 jobs in just three years and gratified by the amazing support we’ve received from the community,” said Sanjay Shah, Amazon’s Vice President of North America Customer Fulfillment.
Amazon’s first fulfillment center in Illinois, located at 205 Emerald Drive in Joliet, opened in 2015 with a team of 1,000 full-time employees. (To see the original press release, click here.) Since the initial building’s launch, Amazon has opened eight other fulfillment centers, two Prime Now hubs, an Amazon Fresh site, a sortation center, four delivery stations, an Amazon Books store, and a corporate office in the Prairie State.
This expansion has resulted in Amazon investing hundreds of millions of dollars into Illinois’s economy, both in fulfillment infrastructure and compensation to its 10,000 current employees. As a snapshot, according to a report by the company’s Economics team, Amazon’s investments in Illinois from 2014 through 2016 resulted in an additional $200 million to the state’s economy. Using Input-Output methodology and multipliers developed by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Amazon estimates its investments in the state have created an additional 7,000 indirect jobs on top of the company’s direct hires.
“We welcome Amazon’s growth and creation of more than 10,000 jobs, which speaks to the quality of our work force here in Illinois,” said Governor Bruce Rauner. “We’re proud of Amazon’s commitment and contributions to the local community and broader state economy. We congratulate Amazon on yet another enterprise milestone and look forward to working with the company to build on this momentum.”
“Illinois is full of people willing and wanting to work and grow,” said Intersect Illinois President and CEO Mark Peterson. “Amazon exceeding their projections is great news and a testament to our dedicated, skilled and extensive workforce.”
“As the world’s largest inland port, Will County is proud to be home to four Amazon fulfillment centers,” said Will County Executive Larry Walsh.
Amazon in Illinois by the numbers:
- 9 fulfillment centers, 6 of which are located in Chicagoland
- 3 locations in Chicago city proper: Prime Now hub, delivery station, and a corporate office
- Amazon’s corporate office in Chicago has created jobs for 200 engineers and cloud infrastructure professionals, and is being expanded to host up to 400 people
- 400+ restaurants leverage Amazon’s technological expertise to offer customers superfast delivery on hot food through Amazon Restaurants
- 8,500+ full-time employees in the greater Chicago area
- 7,000+ estimated indirect jobs created as a result of Amazon’s investment between 2014 and 2016
- 95,000+ authors, sellers, and developers in Illinois growing their businesses and reaching new customers on Amazon products and services
- $100,000+ donated to charities in Illinois through monetary and in-kind donations
- $200 million added into Illinois’ economy between 2014 and 2016 due to Amazon’s investments
- More than 6,000,000 sq. ft. footprint for the nine fulfillment centers
Amazon’s statewide impact can be seen in the local small businesses it empowers. For example, Kristin Rae is an Illinois resident and founder of Inspire International, an independent, woman-founded brand that sells modern clothing and travel accessories. Inspire International uses Fulfillment By Amazon, a service that enables small businesses to use Amazon’s resources to sell directly to customers.
“I truly wouldn’t be able to be in business without Amazon,” said Rae. “It’s not only the visibility that Amazon offers boutique brands like mine, but also the resources and support that are so valuable to small businesses. I am able to efficiently operate a global business from the heartland of Illinois, something that years ago wouldn’t have been possible for sellers like me who live in more rural areas of the country. Amazon is revolutionizing what it is to be a small business.”
Full-time fulfillment center Amazon associates receive competitive wages and a comprehensive benefits package, including healthcare, 401(k) and company stock awards starting on day one. Amazon also offers regular full-time employees maternity and parental leave benefits and access to innovative programs like Career Choice, where it will pre-pay up to 95 percent of tuition for courses related to in-demand fields, regardless of whether the skills are relevant to a career at Amazon. Since the program’s launch, more than 10,000 employees have pursued degrees in game design and visual communications, nursing, IT programming and radiology, to name a few.
To learn more about working at Amazon, visit www.amazon.jobs.
About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.
