Amazon opened more than 100,000 jobs in the U.S. last year as demand for employment surged amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, the retail giant is expanding job opportunities in the UK as well.
Amazon announced today that it plans on hiring 10,000 new people in the country for permanent positions. The new hires will be in Amazon"s corporate offices in London, Manchester, Edinburgh, and Cambridge. Vacant positions span various fields including fashion, digital marketing, engineering, video production, software development, cloud computing, AI, machine learning, and more. Other roles are in Amazon Web Services and operations network. The new hiring spree will bring Amazon"s UK workforce to 55,000 this year.
This summer, Amazon is creating 700 new permanent roles at a new fulfillment center that it plans to open in Hinckley, East Midlands. The company will also establish fulfillment centers in Dartford, Gateshead, and Swindon, as well as a parcel receive center in Doncaster. These locations will each open over 1,300 permanent positions later this year.
In addition, the retail firm will hire thousands of new people to fill up its vacancies in various delivery station network jobs including engineering, HR and IT, health and safety, finance, and order shipment roles. Amazon said the pay for these roles starts at a minimum of £10.80 per hour in the London area and £9.70 per hour elsewhere in the country. These rates apply to full-time, part-time, temporary, and seasonal positions at its fulfillment centers, sort facilities, and delivery stations. Employees will also receive private medical insurance, life assurance, income protection, an employee discount, and a company pension package.
For employees who plan to pursue a career beyond Amazon in the future, the company vows to spend £10 million on skills training over three years. The program will benefit up to 5,000 employees and help meet the country"s employment demand in the future.