Check out these two articles about Amazon expanding its presence in SoCal as an indicator off what is happening in the on-line sales industry.
6/2 – Daily Bulletin – Amazon hiring for 1,000 full-time positions in Inland Empire – Amazon is adding 1000 new employees, all full-time, to its three fulfillment centers in the inland Empire. I only knew about the one in San Bernardino. There are two more, in Moreno Valley and Redlands.
The amazing consequence of conceding on the issue of collecting sales taxes in the state was that Amazon was then able to open fulfillment centers in California. Starting with the San Bernardino warehouse, they were able to get next morning delivery instead of two-day delivery. I have read, but won’t link, two reports they have same-day delivery available in the Los Angeles area.
6/24 – Daily Bulletin – Amazon begins hiring process for 1,000 new employees in Inland Empire – No, this is not the same 1,000 positions as mentioned in the previous article. Amazon is hiring an additional 1,000 people.
To show you how busy they are, article says Amazon invited a bunch of people to interviews, but had already decided to hire most of them before seeing them.
Modern journalism requires telling the story of one individual or one incident before making the general point. The example used in this article is an accounting grad from Cal Poly Pomona who has been unemployed for two years. Said student is quite happy to get a job at Amazon, working in the fulfillment center.
Wow. With an accounting degree from a program with a good reputation, the student’s first job is packing shipments. That is a sobering indication of the economy’s health in the Inland Empire.