Clieo Stephenson, Senior Store Manager, Amazon Fresh Stores, one of the company’s new hires last year
(Picture: Amazon)Amazon is continuing its rapid expansion in the UK with plans to hire 1,500 apprentices after growing its British headcount by almost 50% last year.
Amazon’s 1,500 new UK apprentices will receive in-house training across departments including publishing, retailing and marketing. Country Manager John Boumphrey said the programme would “help even more people get the skills that are in demand in today’s labour market.”
The company has invested £32 billion in the UK since 2010 and today said it hired 25,000 people here last year. That is higher than the 10,000 target it original set.
The jobs spree takes Amazon’s permanent UK workforce to 70,000. Half of last year’s new hires were previously unemployed or joined directly from education, the company said. Roles spanned the breadth of the company, with new hires doing everything from packing parcels to maintaining servers.
The rapid rise in headcount comes as Amazon diversifies into the grocery sector with its till-free Amazon Fresh shops. There are now 15 outlets up and running in London and the tech giant plans to open around 200 across the UK in the next two years. The expansion is a direct challenge to British retail giants such as Tesco, which is already battling German discounters Aldi and Lidl.
Amazon said its Fresh stores, and two 4-Star stores opened last year, created hundreds of jobs.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: “Amazon’s announcement is testament to the strength of the British economy, with GDP back at pre-pandemic levels, employee numbers at record highs and unemployment falling.”
The hiring spree comes after Amazon enjoyed a surge in profits after lockdown restrictions caused shoppers to switch to online retail.
