Nov. 2, 2023

The Sioux Falls Amazon fulfillment center is on the cusp of reaching 2,500 employees ahead of its peak season.

As of earlier this week, there were 2,350 employees working at the northwest Sioux Falls center at Foundation Park, with 150 starting soon.

And the company isn’t done hiring yet.

“If we can get closer to 3,000, that would be best,” said Vincent Gardner, assistant site lead.

“Everything is fully operational; we just don’t have everybody in full stations. We’re not at peak season, but in about four weeks we will be.”

Gardner credits “awesome managers that actually drive a lot of our engagement” for the center’s retention, and for recruitment, the company appears at everything from this week’s WIN in Workforce Summit to college campus visits and hiring events.

The Sioux Falls site is estimated to process 2.5 million items weekly when fully ramped up.

There are openings for all positions, including some in management, Gardner said.

Within the fulfillment center, upgrades continue. One of the latest is a new robot, dubbed Kermit, which moves totes through the facility on its own designated lanes while playing music reminiscent of an ice cream truck.

Amazon’s recent Big Deal Days promotional event was strong for the Sioux Falls team, he said.

“Across all of Amazon, it did very, very well,” he said.

As far as delivery times, some Sioux Falls items are being delivered next-day or within two days — a combination of deliveries that originated at the new fulfillment center as well as others regionally.

To achieve same-day or consistent next-day delivery will require a direct route between the fulfillment center and Amazon’s “last mile” delivery center, which is 5 miles to the east along 60th Street North, and that hasn’t started yet.

“One of the biggest barriers Amazon has are truck drivers,” Gardner said. “As Amazon scales, one of the biggest areas we’re constantly looking for is ground transportation. That’s why we invested into planes, into our own trucking company, but we’re still growing faster than we can backfill.”