Amazon to create more than 5,000 jobs in UK this year

Amazon will create more than 5,000 full-time jobs in the UK this year, the company announced on Friday (20 February).

These new job opportunities are for software developers, engineers and technicians,as well as for those looking for entry-level positions and on-the-job training. The latest recruitment will take the company's UK workforce to over 24,000.

In addition to full-time jobs, the e-commerce giant will provide opportunities to entrepreneurs and individuals who want to start their business through programmes such as Amazon Marketplace, Amazon Logistics and Amazon Flex.

The new roles will be created at the UK head office in London, customer service centre in Edinburgh, photography studio in Shoreditch, AWS Europe (London) region office, fulfillment centres across the UK, including three new sites in Tilbury, Doncaster and Daventry, and development centres in Cambridge, Edinburgh and London. The company said more than 1,500 roles will be at these development centres and AWS.

Doug Gurr, UK country manager for Amazon, in a statement on 20 February, said: "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 fulfillment roles in our fulfilment centres."

Amazon also announced a new apprenticeship programme to offer opportunities in engineering, logistics and warehousing at its fulfillment centres across the UK. Additionally, the company has its Career Choice programme to help train fulfillment centre employees for jobs at Amazon and other companies. More than 2,000 employees across Europe have participated in this programme for courses such as nursing, personal training and engineering.

The Amazon Flex delivery programme is also offering hundreds of individuals the opportunity to work and earn up to £15 ($19) per hour. Amazon Logistics is providing opportunities for small businesses to build and grow by delivering parcels for Amazon.

"Amazon is committed to creating opportunities with choice and flexibility that appeal to the widest range of individuals, from those that want a full working week to those that just want to work for a few hours," said Roy Perticucci, vice president for Europe Customer Fulfilment at Amazon.