Amazon Workforce Staffing – ATL Node

Over the last several years, warehousing and distribution have been noted to be among Georgia’s high-growth industries. This trend has been observed across the country, and as such, Goodwill Industries International and Amazon have forged a national partnership. Goodwill of North Georgia has enjoyed growing this relationship at the local level and is delighted to present the Amazon Workforce Staffing—ATL Node with the 2020 High-Growth Business of the Year award in appreciation for hiring 2500 job seekers last year. As Oakwood Career Center Manager Johnny Varner enthuses, “In my nine years with Goodwill, no partner has ever had such an impact on our ability to help job seekers, while supporting Goodwill Career Services achieve our Critical Success Factor goals.”

“Amazon loves Goodwill!” exclaims the ATL Node team. Utopia Daniels, Reginald Smith, Julia Stevenson, Taylor Campbell, Charlett Davis, Gabrielle Ford, and Jenn Adyorough are thrilled with the collaboration they enjoy with several of Goodwill’s career centers, sharing that about half their hiring last year came from their presence at Goodwill – and they expect this number could double or even triple in 2020.

Amazon’s business in this region is growing rapidly, with an expansion to Stone Mountain on the horizon. They are also excited about Goodwill’s expansion to Old National and believe that location is going to play an important role in their recruitment efforts.

The team touts the benefits realized by Goodwill’s many locations and the customer service provided by our career center teams, who help to keep things running smoothly during Amazon’s hiring events. “There’s so much value-added by working with Goodwill,” says Utopia Daniels. “The career centers are well-equipped from a technology standpoint, and if we need someone who speaks Spanish, or knows American Sign Language, those resources are available.” They find that they often interact with job seekers who weren’t planning to interview with Amazon but encounter them at the career center and decide to explore the opportunity. Amazon also appreciates the constant presence made possible from their leave-behind materials.

The ATL-Node team is grateful for the efforts of Oakwood Career Center Manager Johnny Varner, Pleasant Hill and Stockbridge Career Center Manager Quinton Irvin and Career Coach Tameka Minor, who are always inviting them to participate in career center events. They appreciate that everyone at Goodwill is flexible, accommodating, and nice, noting that our organizations share similar values surrounding customer obsession. With so much enthusiasm on both sides of this relationship, it appears the future will bring even more reason to celebrate.