New Amazon fulfillment centre in Hamilton to create thousands of jobs

Amazon has officially launched a fulfillment centre in Hamilton. Not only is it the most advanced facility of its kind in Canada, but it’s also providing thousands of jobs.

The Director of Regional Operations at Amazon says this plant is helping them keep up with demand. “This building will deal with smaller items, that’s where we have most of our demand.”

By the end of 2023 Amazon will have launched 19 new facilities across Ontario creating more than seven thousand full-time and part-time jobs from operation roles to management and support jobs.

MPP Donna Skelly toured the facility on Tuesday and says it’s a big opportunity for Hamilton. “Up to two thousand people will be employed here and up to 4-thousand people at peak times, think about that.”

The facility in Hamilton has over 3-thousand robots and it also has the most advanced robotic technology among all the Amazon facilities in Canada.

The robots at the facility make the job faster and according to a Robotics Professor at Queen’s University, it doesn’t eliminate jobs for people. “According to a November 2020 report from Stats Canada, Canadian businesses that hired robots also hired more human workers, in fact, the data suggests that they hired 15 percent more human workers.” He adds that it creates a shift in the workforce, employees will be performing fewer routine tasks and focus more on the use of technology.

Amazon says the starting salary for front-line operations employee roles is approximately 18.70 an hour.