Ecommerce behemoth Amazon will build a massive new fulfilment centre at Craigieburn, 23 kilometres north of Melbourne that will dwarf the size of the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) by 11 times.
The robotics operated centre, on AustralianSuper’s logistics estate, will house 25 million smaller items sold on the company’s online store.
It will span 209,000 square metres across four levels, which will make the warehouse the largest ever built in Australia.
A total of 1300 car parking space will also be on site. It will be bigger than Amazon’s first robotics site in Western Sydney built in 2022, which at 9000 sq m smaller, and doubled the company’s operational footprint when it opened and represents the company’s sixth operations site in Melbourne.
LOGOS Property group has already started construction, and completion is expected in 2025.
Since 2011, Amazon has invested more than A$8.4 billion in Australia across all of its businesses in Australia, and $1.9 billion in the past year. It has a local employment team of more than 5000 employees across its ecommerce, web services, Kindle, Audible, Alexa, and prime video.
The site also boasts it will create 2000 additional local jobs once fully operational, some of which will involve working with advanced robotics. An additional 2000 jobs will also be created on the construction and fit-out of the building.
“Amazon Australia’s investment in the site continues the company’s commitment to Australia, boosting employment opportunities and improving selection and delivery promise for customers around the country,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a media statement.
Job opportunities are said to range from part time to full-time, in a high-tech, industry-leading workplace. They will range from highly skilled roles such as IT, HR, and engineering, to entry level roles with on-the-job training. Most of the roles will be permanent full-time roles, which will offer career opportunities, competitive pay, and benefits such as subsidised healthcare and up to 20 weeks paid parental leave.
The advanced Amazon robotics technology is claimed to better assist employees and serve customers. Robots will move “pods” of inventory to employees, which will reduce time and effort that an employee would otherwise need to stow away and find items for new orders.
“We’re proud to be making this significant investment in Victoria, creating around 2000 job opportunities to support the local economy. These are the jobs of the future and offer the opportunity to work alongside advanced technology and earn competitive pay in a safe and positive work environment,” said Janet Menzies, Amazon Australia’s country manager.
“The site will also help connect Victorian customers to local small and medium sized businesses, enhancing delivery outcomes and selection for customers in the state.
“We chose Melbourne as the home of our first fulfilment centre when we launched in Australia in 2017, and the introduction of this state-of-the-art robotics fulfilment centre in the city’s north continues our commitment here.”
The LOGOS head of Australia and New Zealand Darren Searle said “Amazon’s new fulfilment centre will be the anchor of the 90-hectare Craigieburn logistics estate which is strategically located 23km north of Melbourne’s CBD within a state significant industrial precinct, benefiting from the future northeast link and with access to key arterials.”
