Hof – It already has something symbolic. While 300 people feared their jobs in the technology park Hochfranken at the automotive supplier DGH, District Administrator Oliver Br verbally caused the champagne corks to pop around the corner, because big things can be announced: Amazon is coming. The giant that, along with Apple and Microsoft, stands for the force of the tech industry. A more than 100-year-old branch of industry is swaying, but the Internet business does not seem to know any growth limits.
The association of the automotive supplier and technology park Amazon wants to build a logistics center on 22 hectares. For your orientation: This area corresponds mathematically to a square with a side length of 470 meters, almost half a kilometer. And if the big deal had so far only been heard in a whisper – those involved had had to declare their confidentiality in writing – this sounds more confident with District Administrator Oliver Br, who chairs the association of the industrial park, than he did at a press appointment in front of a green one Wiese announced the growth. “Amazon wants to pitch its tents here.” Now it is officially out what had long been considered “let’s see”. The land contract is signed. Now the special-purpose association is soliciting offers for development. District Administrator Br does not want to say when Amazon wants to start operations in the technology park in Upper Franconia. Everything that concerns the company can be queried there. However, he did not expressly deny the year 2021.
In general, Br is careful when presenting the plans. Example jobs: The location of the mail order company should bring 1000 jobs, seasonally, if all of Germany falls into the online shopping frenzy before Christmas, there could be 300 more. What Amazon is now leading into the field does not want to come over Br’s lips.
The name Amazon had been circulating in the region for months. No one wanted to say anything out loud, no one wanted to risk a slump if it hadn’t worked. And to upset Amazon with a premature discussion would not have been helpful in negotiations.
The business is now embedded. Gattendorf, on whose territory Amazon builds, has put everything on Go in terms of building law. One of 40 logistics centers in Europe will be located where people wanted to see representatives of the automotive industry many years ago. However, the name of the automotive supplier park is now only allowed to a limited extent.
However, the planned settlement has not been without discussion. The left in Hof is suspicious of the US group, Verdi has been arguing about collective agreements for years. The left-wing district association quickly got into position: “With the construction of the new Amazon logistics center, a large company has settled that is known for poor working conditions and poor wages.” The Amazon counterattack promptly followed: “Amazon is a fair employer who listens and cares.” In Germany you pay 11.10 euros per hour. After two years, an employee comes with bonuses and special payments gross of 2500 euros, the company said. Br says that they talked to the company and negotiated hard, be it about costs or working conditions. The Mayor of Hof Eva Dhla (SPD) also described criticism as legitimate, but Amazon had established “some improvements”. Br doesn’t see any problems there either. He was certain that there would definitely be a demand for the jobs created.
The Hof-Bayreuth employment agency, in turn, had announced in advance that the region’s labor market could provide the necessary employees. Saxony, Thringen and Bhmen are also interested in the new jobs in Hof. Especially since Amazon can act as a magnet for other companies. The Landauer Transportgesellschaft (LTG), which will become Amazon’s neighbor, has already contacted the online giant.
The special-purpose association now has to do accordingly. He takes twelve million euros in hand, among other things, to move one million cubic meters of soil, so that literally everything runs smoothly for the companies. In terms of finances, this means that the association should participate in later income such as trade tax together with Hof and Gattendorf.
Oliver Br sees himself at the end of a half-year trial that the two sides came together around Christmas. And, Br emphasizes several times, Amazon is picky. The fact that Hof was awarded the contract gives hope for “further developments”. Stefan Mller, the mayor of Gattendorf, speaks of the “really big hit” and does not see the terrain in the hallway of his location exhausted: “Amazon creates a pull effect. We are now becoming more interesting for others.”
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