Amazon to shutter one of its Little Rock facilities for major repairs

Amazon’s largest fulfillment facility in Arkansas will be shuttered indefinitely, and thousands of full and part-time employees will be laid off with pay while structural repairs are completed.

Company spokesman Sam Stephenson told Talk Business & Politics that the more than 4,100 employees at the LIT 1 facility located at the Port of Little Rock will receive full pay for 90 days and medical insurance coverage for up to six months. That includes 2,600 full-time and 1,700 seasonal employees. Severance packages will be offered to employees that seek other jobs.

“We’ll offer transfer opportunities for as many full-time employees as possible at other sites. For employees who choose to relocate to a role more than 50 miles from their home, we’ll provide a relocation assistance payment.” the company stated. “If we’re unable to help an employee secure a new role with Amazon, we’ll provide them a severance package, including a lump sum payment, six months of existing medical benefits, and transitional support to help in looking for new roles. We’ll also continue to provide support for Career Choice for any Amazon employee currently enrolled in the program through 2026. Employees can also enroll in Career Choice during their 90 days of non-work paid time period.”

A timetable for completing the repairs has not been released.

The structural problems were described as “seismic code issues” but specific details were not released. LIT 1 was shut down on Oct. 22 for repairs and was slated to open on Nov. 7. That date was pushed to Nov. 21.

“After conducting a full review with outside experts, we’ve determined that the structural engineering firm that designed the LIT1 building made errors in the initial design of the facility and the building requires significant structural repairs to meet seismic codes and ensure the safety of our team members. There’s no safe way to keep the building open during these repairs, and we’re left with no choice but to shut it down,” Stephenson said.

Rumors that the structure was sinking into the port and that a seismic event triggered engineering examination of the building are untrue, Stephenson said.

The five-story, 3.6 million square foot facility first opened in 2021. Amazon has two fulfillment facilities, both in Little Rock and LIT 3 is slated to open in 2027.

The LIT 3 facility will cost $151 million. The company has six delivery locations in the state, two Whole Foods locations, and six solar farms in Arkansas. Amazon has invested $3.4 billion in its operations in the state since 2010, the company reported.

LIT 1 is a robotics fulfillment center meaning it is the first-place products are sent to be distributed once an order is placed on the company’s website.