Amazon officials say their new packing and shipping center in southeast Salem will open in time for the 2019 holiday season.
The so-called fulfillment center's foundation, roof and walls are finished, but construction workers are still assembling the inside, including installing conveyance equipment, said Amazon spokeswoman Lauren Lynch.
Once completed, the 1 million-square-foot building will employ more than 1,000 workers handling products ranging from pet food to sports equipment. A similar Amazon operation in Troutdale could employ as many as 1,500 full-time workers.
The operations' economic impact on Salem and Portland’s east side appeared to grow significantly Tuesday with Amazon’s announcement that it will boost beginning wages to $15 an hour.
When the Salem location was announced last year, economic development officials said the site would be eligible for more than $3.7 million in tax incentives over three years.
On Tuesday, Nathan Buehler, spokesman for the state's economic development agency Business Oregon, said delaying the center's completion doesn't affect incentives. "They would just enjoy the property tax savings when they have the property to tax."
Amazon sets $15 minimum wage
The Seattle company said this week it will increase its minimum wage to $15 an hour for full-time, part-time, temporary and seasonal employees in the U.S.
The wage changes take effect Nov. 1, affecting more than 250,000 workers, along with more than 100,000 seasonal employees who will come aboard for the holiday season, according to company officials.
Lynch confirmed workers at the Salem fulfillment center will be paid at least $15 a hour according to the company's new minimum wage.
She also said employees will get the company's benefits package, which includes health care from day one and 20 weeks paid parental leave for both male and female workers.
The fulfillment center at 4775 Depot Court SE in Salem is expected to open in time for the 2019 holiday season, she said. Lynch said she didn't have an exact date for when hiring would kick off, but said it would be next year.
In a statement released with the wage announcement, Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos said, "We listened to our critics, thought hard about what we wanted to do and decided we want to lead."
"We’re excited about this change and encourage our competitors and other large employers to join us," Bezos said.
Jim Moore, politics professor at Pacific University, predicted Amazon's minimum wage increase "will have more of a political and practical impact in places with lower minimum wages and with the national conversation in halls of Congress."
"Here in Oregon, with a higher minimum wage and very low unemployment, the $15 will not necessarily attract as many workers as it would if those differentials were higher," such as with higher unemployment and a lower minimum wage, Moore said.
Salem's unemployment rate was 4.1 percent in August, less than half a percentage point off from the state's historically low 3.8 percent rate the same month.
Pressure builds for Salem employers
Timothy Duy, economics professor at the University of Oregon, said Amazon was always bound to create some pressure in the local jobs market, with its benefits packages and potentially stable hours going for it.
The jobs will attract workers who face potential scheduling difficulties and don't receive benefits at their current jobs, he said.
The wage increase is going to create "additional pressure," Duy said.
Local businesses will have to make sure they can compete with an employer who's able to offer workers such incentives, he said. "Firms will need to compete with wages, benefits and hour stability in total."
It remains unclear if there will be openings for seasonal hires at the Salem fulfillment center, Amazon's Lynch said.
"We don't yet know if we'll need them next year once the building opens, but given the interest we’ve seen across the network each holiday season, the opportunity exists for the Salem building next year," she said.
Those hires might be hard to find. "If the region is already struggling to find holiday season workers, this will exacerbate those problems," Duy said.
Email jbach@statesmanjournal.com, call (503) 399-6714 or follow on Twitter @jonathanmbach.
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