Category: Workforce

Amazon to bring over 2,500 jobs to the Central Valley as part of widespread hiring spree

Amazon is recruiting more than 100,000 workers across the U.S. and Canada in anticipation of the holiday season, over 2,500 of which will be hired across the Central Valley.

According to an Amazon spokesperson, the company is adding over 4,000 jobs throughout Northern California, with 1,700 in the Sacramento area and 2,600 planned for the Central Valley. Brittany Parmley, a PR manager for Amazon Operations, said the Central Valley jobs will be available in Tracy, Patterson and Stockton. She added that jobs range from packing customer orders to positions in HR and finance within the individual buildings.

Wages will start at $15 per hour, Parmley said, and benefits like health and dental insurance, as well as a 401(k) match, will be available “on day one.” Select positions also come with a sign-on bonus of up to $1,000. Jobs are available for those with and without a college degree, and those interested can apply immediately on Amazon’s website. She also added that the company has an internal program available to employees called “career choice”, which helps workers get certifications in fields that they’re interested in order to set them up for their chosen long-term career paths.

The company’s most recent hiring spree is the fourth it has rolled out this year. E-commerce sales have skyrocketed this year due to the coronavirus pandemic as people were forced to stay home and limit their trips to physical retailers. Amazon, the world’s biggest online retailer, experienced a 40% revenue rise last quarter and the biggest profit in its 26-year-history. In March, the company added 175,000 new jobs across the region as the COVID-19 pandemic took hold across the globe.

Amazon has faced criticism surrounding worker safety during the pandemic, but Parmley said the company has implemented “hundreds of safety process changes” to ensure compliance with COVID-19 guidelines. She said warehouse employees are subject to regular temperature checks and that there are designated “social distancing ambassadors” in each building. There are acrylic shields partitioning workers and sanitizing stations throughout the warehouses, and Parmley said Amazon has doubled its janitorial staff.

The new job openings are available at 100 new warehouse and operations sites across the United States and Canada. As of June 30, the Seattle-based company employed 876,800 people, excluding temporary personnel and contractors. “Amazon is proud to be a part of the Central Valley community,” Parmley said. “We’re excited to welcome members of the community to apply for these jobs.

https://www.modbee.com/news/business/article245757780.html#:~:text=Amazon%20is%20recruiting%20more%20than,hired%20across%20the%20Central%20Valley.

Amazon may hire more than 3,000 people in Kern

A local college official says Amazon is looking to hire more than 3,000 people — three times the total required under a subsidy agreement worked out with Kern County officials — to work full- and part-time at a large distribution center the e-commerce giant expects to open this summer just north of Meadows Field Airport. Amazon has never specified publicly how many jobs total it expects to create at the warehouse. The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for confirmation of the estimate included in a blog post Sunday by Bakersfield College President Sonya Christian.
Christian’s blog announced the college’s Student Employment Office has partnered with the company to host a series of four virtual job-recruitment events. The first two of the one-hour Zoom events are set for 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Wednesday, with the rest scheduled for exactly one week later. Christian wrote that Amazon representatives will provide step-by-step information about how to apply for a job at the warehouse and what are its requirements, expectations and benefits packages. Job applicants may pre-register online for the recruitment events at https://www.bakersfieldcollege.edu/event/amazon-day.
Amazon has already started hiring upper-level jobs to work at the distribution center, which will also be staffed by robots. The company has advised job-seekers interested in working at the new building to check its hiring website, amazon.com/jobs. It said the best way to get updates is to text “amazon” to 77088. Kern’s Board of Supervisors agreed in 2018 to give Amazon $3 million in local tax rebates in exchange for employing 1,000 county residents at an average wage of $31,000 per year at the distribution center. The subsidy package would award the company annual refunds totaling about $287,000 for more than a decade.

Fresno State nursing master’s program is accredited once again

FRESNO, California (KSEE/KGPE) – Fresno State’s master’s degree nursing program is accredited once again, according to an announcement by the university Tuesday.

It comes after the master’s degree nursing program at Fresno State lost its accreditation just under one year ago. The accreditation by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) will remain until June 2025. In addition, Fresno State says its baccalaureate degree nursing program and its online psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner post-graduate certificate program have both been accredited until June 2030. “The success of our students is vital to growing a health care workforce in the Central Valley and, with that, we are pleased to admit our newest cohort of the master’s program this coming fall 2020 semester,” said chair of the School of Nursing Dr. Sylvia Miller.

https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/education/fresno-state-nursing-masters-program-is-accredited-once-again/

 

New Patterson manufacturing facility to fill jobs, boost economy

BY KRISTIN LAM

A technology company expects to hire 250 workers to run new Patterson facilities scheduled to open by the end of this year.

The full-time openings will include construction, sales, engineering and architecture jobs, said John Rowland, President and Co-founder of S²A Modular, a sustainable building company. S²A Modular plans to begin construction in July, Rowland said, creating a Patterson manufacturing factory where workers will build high-tech single family homes, apartments and hotels. The site plans shows the company will take up 1.15 million square feet along Park Center Drive, directly across the street from the Amazon Fulfillment Center. The addition to Patterson’s industrial area could boost the regional economy by $85 million, according to an analysis by Opportunity Stanislaus, which helped bring S²A Modular to the county. The business got its permit approved May 14, Rowland said, about four months after Opportunity Stainslaus CEO David White pitched potential locations to executives. “In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, this announcement couldn’t have come at a better time,” White said in a city of Patterson press release.

HOW WILL THE BUSINESS BOOST STANISLAUS COUNTY’S ECONOMY?

The estimated impact of $85 million accounts for the time it takes to build the facility and the first year 250 people are employed, April Henderson Potter, director of market research, said in an email. The total in the Opportunity Stanislaus analysis includes employee compensation and construction costs, as well as taxes such as sales tax, personal income tax and taxes on production and imports.

Demand and business in other industries may also increase, Henderson Potter said, as workers spend their income on local housing, restaurants and medical services. Beyond new employees, Rowland said S²A Modular will also source local delivery firms. “The impact reaches much further than just within the factory,” Rowland said. “It really spreads out into the community and even the surrounding communities that we do work in.”

The company has already hired three people to staff the Patterson facilities, but when mass hiring will begin has yet to be announced.

WHAT IS S²A MODULAR?

Founded in 2018, the company headquartered in Palo Alto manufactures smart, sustainable residential and commercial buildings. It constructs buildings with solar panels, battery storage and energy management systems, allowing home or building owners to disconnect from utility company power grids and gas lines. S²A Modular buildings are custom-made in factories instead of on-site. In addition to the Patterson facility, another factory is being built in Hemet in Southern California.

The company is the latest to move into the business park in western Stanislaus County, which has easy access to Interstate 5. Companies that added distribution centers to the area in the past 10 years or so include Amazon, Restoration Hardware and Grainger.

http://modbee.com/news/business/article242932481.html

Report: Improving rail service between Central Valley and Bay Area could create thousands of jobs

If a long-discussed plan to improve passenger rail service between the Central Valley and the Bay Area ever gets to the “shovel” stages, tens of thousands of new construction jobs would be created, according to a report made to the Tri-Valley – San Joaquin Valley Regional Rail Authority Board.The so-called “Valley Link” project’s construction phase would create 22,000 jobs with worker income of $1.35 billion, says the analysis prepared by PGH Wong Engineering Inc. using a tool created by the American Public Transportation Association.

The analysis also predicts that:

• The construction phase would also generate $3.5 billion in local business sales;

• When operational, Valley Link would support 400 jobs per year with labor income of over $19 million per year,and,

• Valley Link would also generate $69 million in business sales annually.

Currently, the Central Valley is connected to Silicon Valley by the Altamont Commuter Express rail system between downtown Stockton and downtown San Jose. Although using modern diesel locomotives and passenger cars, the trains creak along over a right of way owned by Union Pacific and ordinally built in the 1800s. The passenger trains also must give way to slow-moving freight trains.“I am very pleased by the results of this analysis of the economic impact of Valley Link. This project will not only get our vital workforce to their jobs once complete but will also add 22,000 jobs to boost the economy during the construction phase,” says Alameda County Supervisor and Regional Rail Authority Chairman Scott Haggerty. Tracy City Council member and Regional Rail Authority vice chairman Veronica Vargas says the improved rail corridor would provide nearly 30,000 rides a day to commuters “eager to have relief from congestion on the I580. And, in a time of economic stress with the COVID-19 pandemic, Valley Link can provide a significant job stimulus in the region.”The first phase of the proposed Valley Link rail service would cover 42 miles connecting the existing Dublin/Pleasanton BART station to the proposed ACE North Lathrop station. A second phase would extend service from the North Lathrop station to the ACE and Amtrak Stockton station. Trains would be scheduled to allow for convenient transfers to BART. The first ValleyLink trains could be placed in service as early as 2027.

https://files.constantcontact.com/2cb20f61601/d2a6152c-42c4-4dda-8914-0401770c2048.pdf

UC Merced’s Incoming Chancellor on the University’s Future

The UC Board of Regents announced last week that Juan Sánchez Muñoz will become UC Merced’s fourth chancellor. As a UC alum and first-generation student, he has a lot in common with the university’s student body. He currently serves as president of the University of Houston-Downtown, and was still in Texas when Valley Edition Host Kathleen Schock spoke with him about assuming leadership during a pandemic.

https://www.kvpr.org/post/uc-merceds-incoming-chancellor-universitys-future

BITWISE CEO SEEKS TO HIRE 100-PLUS FOR DATA ENTRY

The CEO of Bitwise is putting out a call to hire more than 100 temporary data entry contractors who will work from home. Irma L. Olguin Jr. said in a Facebook post Friday afternoon that the workers would support efforts of Bitwise Industries, its web development arm Shift3 Technologies and mobile restaurant ordering app Ordrslip in “building things to help feed the elderly, save restaurants from going out of business and to help folks who’ve lost jobs regain employment.” The temporary (“could be days or weeks”) positions would be 40 hours a week and pay $15 per hour. Employment would be on a contract basis. Applicants must have their own computer, reliable Internet access and be able to type at reasonable speed, Olguin said.

https://thebusinessjournal.com/virus-diaries-bitwise-ceo-seeks-to-hire-100-plus-for-data-entry/#:~:text=The%20CEO%20of%20Bitwise%20is,who%20will%20work%20from%20home.&text=Employment%20would%20be%20on%20a%20contract%20basis.

COVID-19 virus spurs hiring atsupermarket chains

Modesto-based privately held Save Mart Companies are hiring, due to the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease.
There are openings for close to 1,000 employees in their FoodMaxx, Lucky and Save Mart stores located throughout California and Northern Nevada, as well as their warehouses in Roseville and Merced, thre company says. This includes in-store positions, drivers, and warehouse workers.

https://files.constantcontact.com/2cb20f61601/cdbea38d-b122-467b-b987-e4838c36e663.pdf

Amazon, Save Mart hiring in Patterson, Modesto amid coronavirus pandemic

Amazon plans to hire 800 workers for its Patterson and Tracy warehouses, a spokesperson said Tuesday, to help meet increased demand during the coronavirus pandemic. The temporary jobs are among the 100,000 nationwide openings Amazon announced Monday, the same day Modesto-based Save Mart Cos. said it expects to hire nearly 1,000 employees in California and Nevada.

https://www.modbee.com/news/coronavirus/article241275246.html?

Merced College offers fast track certificate for careers in nutrition

A local valley school is offering students a fast track to start their careers in nutrition. Digging into a career in nutrition isn’t always easy, but Merced College is serving up a solution for its students. In Fall 2020, the foods and nutrition program will offer several certificates as a fast track option. “It allows students to have the time to get right through it and working and going,” said former student Evan Fimbrez. In just two semesters, students can earn a ServSafe Manager Certificate – the first step to a wide variety of jobs in the nutrition field.

https://abc30.com/merced-community-college-food-and-nutrition-program-science-nurition-school-programs/5908741/#:~:text=A%20local%20valley%20school%20is,start%20their%20careers%20in%20nutrition.