When Joaquin Gomez-Boteyo looks around at the towering robotic arms and the high-speed sortation systems inside Amazon’s fulfillment center in San Bernardino, he doesn’t just see machines, he sees opportunity.
“I always had a garage full of tools,” Gomez-Boteyo said. “I always had a screwdriver in my hand. Electricity, mechanics — I felt comfortable and I wanted to get better at it.”
Gomez-Boteyo gets his engineering intuition from his father, a maintenance technician. “I grew up around tools,” he said.
That lifelong curiosity has fueled Gomez-Boteyo’s journey from the small town of Perris to a career working with robotics at Amazon. A first-generation college student, Gomez-Boteyo found his path through the company’s Mechatronics and Robotics Apprenticeship (MRA) program, an initiative that is helping Amazon employees upskill and build careers in advanced technology.
“Being first-gen, a path to college is not as well known,” he said. “Amazon gave me the keys to the building. To me, it’s like a playground. I can fix things and learn at college and on the job.”
Amazon’s MRA program not only pays employees to learn but covers the cost of their schooling. “Class costs, books, housing – Amazon is paying me to learn,” Gomez-Boteyo said. “They are fast forwarding you into a degree.”
The program is part of Amazon’s broader commitment to workforce development. Building on the success of MRA, the company is launching a new Automation Engineer Apprenticeship (AEA), registered with the U.S. Department of Labor. The AEA blends classroom learning and 3,600 hours of hands-on training to prepare employees for high-demand technical careers.
AmazonGomez-Boteyo’s passion for robotics grew during his time in the program. After training at Vincennes University and working at facilities in Indiana and Kentucky, he returned to California in 2022 to join Amazon’s San Bernardino site.
“The fact that we could come in and something new and different would be happening every day — that was exciting,” he said.
At his facility, Gomez-Boteyo works with six giant Fanuc arm robots and a fleet of iBot sortation systems. “There is so much behind making them work,” he said, “It’s kind of fascinating watching them move.”
Amazon’s robotics are creating new roles within the company and enhancing employee safety, Gomez-Boteyo explained. “People shouldn’t be worried. I’ve seen an influx of employees because of the robots,” he said. “It builds curiosity. We’re actually introducing more robots, so we’re going to be needing more people.”
He emphasized that robots make the physical work easier for associates while still requiring human oversight. “Every robotic workstation needs people,” he said. “It wouldn’t mean anything if we weren’t around to help run the equipment.”
“People shouldn’t be worried. I’ve seen an influx of employees because of the robots.”
An accelerating career at Amazon also allows time for family – fixing cars with dad and cooking with mom – and time to pursue hobbies and other interests like disc golf, Southern California beaches, soccer and cheering on the Dodgers.
Gomez-Boteyo continues to advance his education with the help of Amazon’s Career Choice program, which pays for tuition and provides up to 10 hours per week of paid time off for school. “Amazon is paying for my education through Career Choice,” he said. “The great thing is that I work with a bunch of engineers, so I have people to help me with my schoolwork at the company. If an employee wants to grow with Amazon, you can do it.”
And what does Gomez-Boteyo’s dad think of his son’s advancement? “He thinks it’s amazing. He’s always asking me about work, always curious about my work,” Gomez-Boteyo said with pride, “it’s nice to show that.”
Amazon’s apprenticeship programs have delivered life-changing benefits for participants. The MRA program includes significant pay increases — nearly 23% after the classroom phase and another 26% after on-the-job learning. On average, graduates earn up to $21,500 more annually than typical entry-level fulfillment center employees.
Amazon is expanding these opportunities nationwide. The company is partnering with Bakersfield College to establish the West Coast Maintenance Apprenticeship Hub, its premier apprenticeship training center in the region. The initiative reflects Amazon’s dedication to workforce development in the communities it serves.
For Gomez-Boteyo, the combination of education, hands-on experience and career growth has been transformative. “I have a goal in sight and Amazon set me up for that,” he said. “You can go anywhere here.”
And when he walks through the fulfillment center, seeing packages speed along the conveyors, he feels a sense of pride. “It makes me smile because I made an impact on that package.”
The news and editorial staffs of Southern California News Group and The San Diego Union-Tribune had no role in this post’s preparation.
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