For Anna Ortega, working at a pawn shop during the pandemic was a grind. A staffing shortage meant that she had to pick up far more hours than she wanted. She felt burnt out. So, in 2021, with money she’d saved from all those hours, Anna quit and took a few weeks off from work. And once her savings started to dwindle, she did what many people who need a job in San Bernardino do: she found a job at an Amazon warehouse.

“At the time, my mother was working at an Amazon facility,” explains Ortega. This, too, is not unusual in the Inland Empire, where Amazon has expanded its presence, becoming the region’s largest employer. San Bernardino is home to Cajon High School, a public school that offers classes in the “Amazon Logistics and Business Management Pathways” career track, some of which are taught in a classroom designed to resemble an Amazon facility. (That Ortega’s mother is currently out from Amazon due to an on-the-job injury isn’t surprising, either: the company’s injury rate nationally is roughly double that of the industry average).

Ortega intended to apply to the Amazon facility where her mother worked, but the company was offering a bonus for people who took positions at KSBD, Amazon’s West Coast air hub that opened in April 2021 despite community protests. She took the job at KSBD.