LONDON – Amazon said on Friday it plans to hire 10,000 more permanent employees in the UK.
The announcement comes a day after the Seattle-based tech giant said it intends to hire 75,000 warehouse and delivery workers in the United States and Canada.
New UK jobs will include positions at four new Amazon warehouses, as well as positions at Amazon’s corporate offices in London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Cambridge. They will also include positions at Amazon Web Services, which is Amazon’s cloud computing business.
Amazon declined to specify how many of the new positions will be for delivery drivers and warehouse workers, some of whom have protested low wages and poor working conditions.
Pay for Amazon’s ‘trading’ functions starts at £ 10.80 ($ 15.19) per hour in the London area and £ 9.70 per hour in other parts of the UK. The minimum pay applies to anyone who works at Amazon’s fulfillment centers, sorting centers, and delivery stations. .
Amazon’s total workforce in the UK will surpass 55,000 by the end of 2021, the company said, making it one of the largest employers in the country. Other US tech giants, including Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and Apple, also have a significant presence in the UK.
Amazon added that it will spend £ 10 million over three years to train 5,000 UK employees with new skills that will allow them to pursue careers both on and off Amazon.
The firm said it will prepay 95% of the tuition and associated fees for nationally recognized courses costing up to £ 8,000 over four years, adding that staff will be able to take HGV driving courses and training courses. software development if you wish.
Amazon UK Country Manager John Boumphrey said in a statement that certain Amazon roles are “a stepping stone for some in their career path.”
He added: “For people whose ambitions lie outside our company, we are happy to support them by paying for training and academic courses that can get them where they want to be.”
Amazon said it will work with British chambers of commerce and local businesses to identify regional skills shortages.
British Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said in a statement that Amazon’s hiring plan is a “big vote of confidence” in the UK economy. “As we better recover from the pandemic, this is a major investment in our retail sector,” he said.
While Amazon creates many UK jobs, the company has also come under fire for the amount of tax it pays. Amazon paid £ 293 million in UK tax in 2019 on sales of £ 13.73 billion. You have yet to submit your accounts for 2020.
