If you’re 18 and a high school grad, that’s a starting point for Amazon’s Fresno jobs
Amazon has started taking applications to begin hiring the 1,500 or so workers that it wants for its new Fresno order-filling warehouse. And the online retail behemoth has a laundry list of qualities that it’s looking for in its would-be employees.
“We’re hiring for positions from picking, packing and shipping customer orders to facility technicians, IT and HR members,” said Lauren Lynch, an Amazon spokeswoman. The company recently posted on its website a job listing for full-time warehouse associates who are expected to make up the bulk of the workforce when the fulfillment center opens in June or July.
There are some basic qualifications that Amazon is looking for in its employees: to be at least 18 years old and have a high school diploma or GED. But for the jobs that pay an hourly wage of $11.75 an hour to start, with regular pay increases plus Amazon stock and performance bonuses, there’s a little more to it. The job listing on the company’s hiring website for hourly positions includes:
▪ “Flexibility to work any shift, willing and able to work overtime as required.” The post says that “associates should be open to working voluntary and mandatory extra hours” and to work at a fast pace.
▪ “You must be able to lift up to 49 pounds, stand/walk for up to 10-12 hours a day and be able to frequently push, pull, squat, bend and reach, all with or without reasonable accommodation.”
▪ “You’re able to continuously climb and descend stairs safely” in buildings with stairs.
▪ “You are comfortable working on a secure mezzanine at a height of up to 40 feet” in buildings with a mezzanine level.
▪ “You must be willing and able to work on powered industrial trucks, such as a forklift or order picker.”
Amazon has other positions on a different careers web page: lead fulfillment associates that require prior work experience or greater education, with a preference for a bachelor’s degree and some management experience; IT support technicians who set up and maintain computer and networking equipment; an IT support engineer to troubleshoot computers and networks; a “yard jockey” to coordinate the flow of tractor-trailer rigs coming into and out of the warehouse center’s trailer yard; an on-site medical representative for which the company is seeking military veterans; and a senior site environmental health and safety manager.
Lynch said the company’s average hourly wage for full-time associates at its fulfillment centers in the U.S. is more than $15 an hour before overtime. That, she said, includes stock and incentive bonuses.
The company is only taking applications through its websites and currently has no hiring events scheduled for the Fresno center. Once Amazon receives an application, it begins the company’s hiring process of evaluation, screening and training.
Construction of the Fresno warehouse began last summer on a 20-acre site near Central and Orange avenues at the south end of the city.