LONDON — Amazon is planning to recruit 10,000 more permanent staff in the U.K., the company said Friday.
The announcement comes a day after the Seattle-headquartered tech giant said it intends to hire 75,000 delivery and warehouse workers across the U.S. and Canada.
The new U.K. jobs will include roles at four new Amazon warehouses, as well as roles at Amazon’s corporate offices in London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Cambridge, and 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 over low pay and poor working conditions.
Pay for Amazon’s “operations” roles starts at a minimum of £10.80 ($15.19) per hour in the London area and £9.70 per hour in other parts of the U.K. The minimum pay applies to anyone who works in Amazon’s fulfilment centers, sort centers, and delivery stations.
Amazon’s total U.K. workforce will exceed 55,000 by the end of 2021, the company said, making it one of the largest employers in the country. Other U.S. tech giants including Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Apple also have a significant presence in the U.K.
Amazon also said it will spend £10 million over three years on training up 5,000 U.K. employees with new skills that will allow them to pursue careers both in and outside Amazon.
The firm said it will pre-pay 95% of tuition and associated fees for nationally recognized courses that cost up to £8,000 over four years, adding that staff will be able to take HGV driving courses and software development courses should they wish.
Amazon’s U.K. Country Manager John Boumphrey said in a statement that certain Amazon roles are “a stepping stone for some in their career journey.”
He added: “For people whose ambitions fall outside of our company, we are pleased to support them by paying for training and academic courses that can get them to where they want to be.”
Amazon said it will work with the 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 “huge vote of confidence” in the U.K. economy. “As we build back better from the pandemic, this is a prime investment in our retail sector,” he said.
While Amazon creates plenty of jobs in the U.K., the company has also been criticized for the amount of tax it pays. Amazon paid £293 million in tax in the U.K. in 2019 on sales of £13.73 billion. It is yet to file its accounts for 2020.
