Applicants line up Monday for first day of Amazon hiring event to employ 2,500 workers at Colorado Springs facility

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Dozens of people stood in line and waited Monday at the Pikes Peak Workforce Center on the first day of a five-week hiring event by Amazon.

The delivery and technology corporation plans to open a sprawling processing facility near the airport this summer and hire 2,500 employees to work there.

Applicants pre-registered last weekend for the first round of interviews Monday; some were told that Amazon had 300 interviews scheduled.

Potential workers waited outside the main entrance and were allowed in a few at a time.

Many of the Amazon hopefuls were unaware they had to pre-register, or didn't have proper ID or other necessary materials.

"They told me I needed to bring my passport," one woman said. "They said it's for ID purposes. I wasn't expecting that."

One man said that he went home to collect necessary materials and would come back in the afternoon for his interview.

"They told me that some people who scheduled interviews didn't show up," he said. "I'd really like to get a job here. I've been laid off since the pandemic started. I want a better job with benefits to support my wife and six kids."

The portal to apply for a job at the new distribution center opened on June 12.

Amazon and Workforce officials were unavailable for comment Monday.

The interest in Amazon jobs was a refreshing change from the common perception that many people have been unwilling to work in favor of generous federal unemployment benefits. Only 80 applicants showed up at a restaurant job fair last month.

However, with weekly benefits having been cut from $600 to $300, and the possibility of them being further reduced or eliminated, those jobs may become more coveted soon.