Amazon said on Friday it is planning to recruit 10,000 more permanent staff in the U.K taking its headcount to 55,000 by the end of 2021.
The announcement comes after the e-commerce tech giant intends to hire 75,000 delivery and warehouse workers across the U.S. and Canada. The company expects increased demand to outlast the pandemic as it already hired 500,000 people last year with a headcount of 1.3 million.
The new jobs will boost the U.K labor market and will include roles at four new Amazon warehouses. The roles are also at Amazon’s corporate offices in London, Cambridge, Edinburgh, and Manchester.
John Boumphrey – Amazon U.K. country manager said in a statement that these roles are “a stepping stone for some in their career journey.”
“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,” Boumphrey added.
Amazon declined to specify the designations for delivery drivers and warehouse workers. However, the company is entitled to medical insurance, life insurance, income protection, and an employee discount to the new employees.
Other U.S. companies including Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Facebook also have a significant impact in the U.K. British Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng welcomed the announcement by saying, Huge vote of confidence, as we build back better from the pandemic, this is a prime investment in our retail sector,”
While Amazon creates employment in the U.K, it has been criticized about the taxes it pays. It paid 293 million euros in the U.K in 2019, on sales of £13.73 billion.
