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Amazon will temporarily shutter a distribution facility in Port St. Lucie, Florida, to renovate it into a sortable fulfillment center where employees pick, pack and ship customer orders, Amazon told Supply Chain Dive.
The facility will cease operations on Sept. 17laying off 494 employees in the process, according to a July 15 Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice. Employee separations will be effective either the same day or Dec. 17. All terminations will be permanent, but employees who accept internal Amazon transfer opportunities prior to the separation date will not be laid off.
The e-commerce giant continues to adjust its U.S. warehouse network, closing some sites while renovating or building others.
Earlier this year, Amazon announced plans to temporarily close its warehouse in Homestead, Florida, as it converts the existing facility into a fulfillment center. Meanwhile, in Nevada, Amazon shut down a fulfillment center in Reno last August. The company is also building a same-day facility in the city as part of a push for faster delivery.
Elsewhere on the new facility front, Amazon continues to pursue increased automation across its fulfillment network. The e-commerce company has outlined plans to build a nearly 250,000-square-foot, robotics-equipped sorting warehouse in Texas. It is also building a robotics fulfillment center in North Carolina spanning more than 3 million square feet of warehouse space.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with additional information from Amazon.
