Amazon to open a fourth fulfillment center in Washington

Just a day after Amazon announced its plan to raise the price of Prime service, the online retailer is investing in a new fulfillment center in Kent, Wash.

The nearly 1 million-square-foot site will hire hundreds of new workers, according to the company’s press release. The new site is the fourth fulfillment center in Washington. One of the others, Dupont, is near completion and is hiring workers to pick, pack, and ship customer orders for $12.25 an hour with benefits.

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“Amazon’s expansion is great news for the people who will be working in the hundreds of great jobs there as well as for all of Washington,” said Gov. Jay Inslee (D). “Amazon is a marquee company for how Washington innovation can change the world.”

In the statement, Amazon also addressed the benefits that hourly employees will get – including up to 95 percent of tuition prepaid toward courses not even related to the jobs at Amazon.

In 2013, Amazon.com hired 20,000 full-time employees to work at fulfillment centers across U.S. The working condition in Amazon’s warehouses have been widely criticized.