Online retail giant Amazon is building one of the largest warehouses in Australia in its latest efforts to expand its operations in the country. Construction on the 200,000 square metre robotics fulfilment centre has already begun at Kemps Creek in Sydney’s west, close to the under-construction Western Sydney airport.
The advanced storage and distribution facility is expected to create 1,500 warehouse jobs, in addition to 700 jobs during its construction. It will be roughly the size of Taronga Zoo. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said today the announcement was “a huge boost for Western Sydney as it becomes the gateway for jobs of the future”.
Given the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, she added the development came at a time “when we need it”. “The state has gone through a very difficult time and Western Sydney will become the advanced manufacturing capital of the nation,” she said.
Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney Stuart Ayres said the jobs on offer were “not the traditional warehouse jobs we’ve seen in the past”. “We are creating new opportunities for technicians, computer engineers, computer programmers and bringing more smart jobs to where people live here in Western Sydney.” Amazon has opened more than 50 robotics fulfilment centres around the world but this will be the first in Australia. It will incorporate the company’s latest robotics systems where robots move shelves to workers therefore reducing the amount of walking employees have to do and improving processing times
Matt Furlong, Amazon Australia’s county manager, said he hoped it would improve processing and delivery times. “It will also enable the more than 10,000 small and medium sized Australian businesses who sell on Amazon.com.au to continue to grow their online sales,” he said. The centre will stock up to 11 million items and is expected to begin delivering packages to NSW residents by Christmas 2021. Amazon entered the Australian market three years ago and has previously been criticised for the pressure placed on warehouse staff who say they are constantly timed and monitored as they pack goods.
The warehouse has the ability to pack orders 24/7 and is located next to the western Sydney international airport which is expected to be completed by 2026. Amazon said the majority of the 1,500 positions would be permanent full time roles with subsidised healthcare and up to 20 weeks maternity pay. The positions will include roles in HR, IT and robotics professionals to keep the centre running. The fulfilment centre will be the second built in western Sydney, with other centres built in Perth and Melbourne since Amazon launched in Australia in 2017. It comes as Australia faces mass job cuts with even Qantas forced to cut 6,000 jobs after its services slowed to a crawl during the pandemic.
