Secret’s out: Amazon lets first Australian warehouse location slip
US retail giant Amazon may have settled on the Melbourne southeast suburb of Dandenong as the location for its maiden fulfilment centre after several management positions based around warehouse, logistics and supply tasks were advertised on national online job classifieds site Seek.
The spruiking for talent — including managers, safety managers, area managers, an operations manager and a public relations officer — means the arrival of Amazon is one step closer and is likely to send a shiver down the backs of the nation’s retailers as they brace for a full-on assault by the world’s most successful retail store.
Adverts placed on Seek call for a range of new staff with the candidates told the location of the job is in Dandenong South, an area in southeast Melbourne that is a hive of industrial sites, supply and logistics centres as well as ample road and rail transport to ship goods.
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One advert for an area manager calls on people who can “lead and develop your own team of Amazon Associates” with preferred qualifications including a bachelor’s degree in engineering, operations or a related field as well as knowledge of trendy management theories Kaizen and Six Sigma.
There are other manual labour positions advertised saying that “depending on the type of job, you will be required to engage in physical warehouse activities”.
Another ad describes Amazon staff will need to undertake “physical warehouse activities”, including “lifting and moving material up to 16kg each” and “standing and walking for up to 10-12 hours a day” in a building more than 400 metres long.
Boxes and parcels sit stacked in bays ahead of shipping from the warehouse of an Amazon fulfilment centre. Photo: Bloomberg
Amazon sent shockwaves through the nation’s $300 billion retail sector in April when it confirmed it was searching for a site to construct its first fulfilment centre in Australia, which would be used as a base to offer potentially a full suite of Amazon services that are popular in the United States and Europe but as yet not offered in Australia.
A giant fulfilment centre would be key to Amazon gaining market share in Australia as it ships millions of packages and goods across the country.
It is believed Amazon would need a fulfilment centre with floor space of as much as 93,000sq m, or about five times the size of the MCG.
Amazon has committed to seeking a 25,000sq m facility in Melbourne with expansion potential to 50,000sq m. The company is being advised by real estate firm CBRE, which has declined to comment on the leasing requirement, which also extends to Sydney.
Amazon is also expected to secure a major warehouse site in western Sydney and some developers are proposing sites near the planned Badgerys Creek airport.
Major property groups contacted by The Australian last night were not familiar with the Amazon deal, prompting speculation that a local developer may have snared the mandate to build the centre.
Whatever form the initial centre takes landlords are hopeful that Amazon will rapidly expand around the country and build major warehouses as the company has in the US and Europe.
An Amazon spokesman declined to comment.
– with Ben Wilmot
This article originally appeared on www.theaustralian.com.au/property.
