 have pledged to commit 5,000 new jobs across the UK, both in its Edinburgh and London headquarters taking their workforce to 24,000.){kind=link}
Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) have pledged to commit 5,000 new jobs across the UK, both in its Edinburgh and London headquarters.
The online retail marketplace company has said it is looking to recruit more personnel in its warehouses, as well as software developers. The additional recruitment drive will take Amazon’s UK employee base to 24,000.
Doug Gurr, the head of Amazon’s UK business, commented: “We are creating thousands of new UK jobs including hundreds of apprenticeship opportunities as we continue to innovate for our customers and provide them with even faster delivery, more selection and better value.”
“We are hiring for all types of roles from flight test engineers, software engineers and corporate managers in our development centres and head office, to operations managers, supervisors, engineers, service technicians, HR roles and order fulfilment roles in our fulfilment centres,” he added.
Under the expansion measures, Amazon is set to open new warehouse “fulfilment centres” in Tilbury, Doncaster and Daventry. The new locations will facilitate speedier delivery across the country and will also handle third-party retail deliveries for the site.
Amazon has been a source of controversy in the past, after criticism of its long work hours for drivers, which were over legal limitations. Amazon insisted that the drivers were “fairly compensated” for the extra hours.
In addition, expansion is also set to take place across its European operations, adding some 15,000 jobs. This would subsequently take its workforce up to 64,000 by the end of the year.
Alongside expansion in the UK and Europe, the online retailer is also set to commence further exploration into fashion and clothing. The website currently specialises in books, DVDs and electronics.
Despite continued anxiety for businesses as Brexit continues to unfold, Amazon joins the likes of Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) in reaffirming their commitment to the UK market. Facebook unveiled last year plans to transform Battersea Power Station in their new operating headquarters in London.
Shares in Amazon remain steady, up by 0.11 percent as of 10.14AM (GMT).