Amazon will shutter Tukwila facility, lay off 172

SEATTLE – Amazon plans to shutter a warehouse in Tukwila, Washington, and lay off 172 workers this year, the company confirmed Friday.

The Seattle-based online retail giant offered no details about why it plans to close the facility, but said all employees at the site “are being offered opportunities to transfer to other facilities nearby.”

“We’re always evaluating our network to make sure it fits our business needs and to improve the experience for our employees, customers, partners, and drivers,” Amazon spokesperson Sam Stephenson said in a statement.

“As part of that effort, we may close older sites, enhance existing facilities, or open new sites, and we weigh a variety of factors when deciding where to develop future sites or maintain a presence.”

The closure will take effect Aug. 1, according to a state notice filed Friday.

The company did not respond to requests for specifics about the warehouse, beyond saying it is a small fulfillment center. The company appears to operate two warehouses in Tukwila, DWA2 and UWA5. Based on past job postings, UWA5 appears to be an Amazon Fresh warehouse, while DWA2 appears to be a delivery center, a different type of facility.

Elsewhere in the country, the company has also recently announced plans to close a grocery fulfillment center in San Francisco and a sort center in Stockton, California, according to local media reports. Amazon closed a Fresh grocery store in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood in April, saying it would focus more on its larger grocery stores.

After sweeping global layoffs in late 2022 and early 2023 that slashed 27,000 jobs, Amazon layoffs since have been more limited.

The company has laid off hundreds of employees in its Prime Video business, its cloud computing division and the Amazon-owned video game streaming company Twitch.

Amazon says it employs 87,000 people in Washington, including all types of part- and full-time jobs.