‘Amazon Effect’ Is Hiking Pay and Fueling Land Rush in U.S.

On a recent weekday morning, a handful of job seekers were filling out applications at desktop computers in the Jefferson, Ga., office of Hire Dynamics, a staffing company with several locations across the South. All were there to tap the warehouse boom in Jackson County, about 50 miles northeast of Atlanta. Since 2015, at least 31 e-commerce fulfillment centers and other distribution depots have opened or are under development. The list of arrivals includes Amazon.com, Williams-Sonoma, and FedEx.

Larry Feinstein, chief executive officer of Hire Dynamics, says the local labor market was already tight when Amazon.com Inc. opened a 1,000-person fulfillment center in the county last year. “Amazon comes in and sucks up all the labor,” says Feinstein, whose recruiters are scrambling to hire 40 people a day for a warehouse operated by Carter’s Inc., a maker of baby and children’s clothing. “Every one of our clients up there has raised their pay rates at least $2.”