Amazon has announced that it will hire 10,000 new employees as it opens further warehouses in the north and south of England. The company also plans to create numerous corporate roles in Cambridge, Edinburgh, London and Manchester.
The addition of 10,000 new roles will take Amazon’s total workforce in the UK to more than 55,000 by the end of 2021. According to the company, wages for operations roles will be £9.70 per hour (£10.80 in London), in addition to other benefits.
New Amazon fulfilment centres are due to be opened in Dartford, Gateshead, Hinckley and Swindon as well as a parcel receive warehouse in Doncaster. Recruitment will also take place for office roles in areas such as fashion, digital marketing, AI and machine learning, among other departments.
The organisation plans to invest £10 million over three years into a scheme to train 5,000 employees in a variety of subjects such as accountancy, HGV driving and software development in order to provide them with transferable skills. Amazon will pay up to 95% of tuition and additional fees for adult education courses.
UK Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has commended the news as a ‘prime investment in our retail sector’ that will ‘open up a wide range of opportunities for even more workers’.
John Boumphrey, Amazon’s UK Country Manager added: ‘We're proud of the front-line roles we offer across Amazon, and we also know that they will be a stepping stone for some in their career journey’.
The e-commerce and tech giant has recently faced criticism over harsh working practices and trade union Unite wrote to CEO Jeff Bezos, calling on the company founder to allow workers to freely join trade unions.
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