Hundreds of Amazon's Jacksonvile jobs will average $50,000 a year

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Amazon announced Wednesday that it is bringing about 1,500 jobs to Jacksonville -- and the online retail giant said it has plans for a more than 800,000-square-foot fulfillment center.

The move will create the jobs by the end of 2019, with 500 jobs guaranteed to be permanent, full-time equivalents with an average salary of $50,000. The other 1,000 jobs will be hourly, ranging from $12 to $15 per hour.

Construction workers have been cutting down trees and clearing the land for the 800,000 square-foot facility.

The news is making citizens like Amanda Schroeder, who works a minimum wage job, hopeful. She works at a fast-food restaurant and is always looking for a better-paying opportunity.

We’re important. We gotta be important if Amazon is bringing jobs to us,” Schroeder said. “I’m trying to find something. I live with minimum wage and there will be more opportunities to choose from and just better paying jobs hopefully.”

The hiring process is expected to begin by the end of next summer in anticipation of a late 2017 opening.

District 7 Councilman Reggie Gaffney says the economic impact will be huge for the city — and he even compared it to the NFL coming to Jacksonville in the 1990s.

“Amazon, in my opinion is the next biggest get for Jacksonville,” Gaffney said.

Gaffney says Amazon chose Jacksonville because of this site. It’s close to the airport and had already passed all of the environmental tests.

It helped that the city and state combined for an extra $18 million in incentives to bring the company here.

To learn more about working at an Amazon fulfillment center, interested candidates can visit its website.

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