Amazon UK joins Christmas retail recruitment rush with 19,000 festive jobs

Online retail giant Amazon UK is the latest firm to launch its Christmas recruitment drive by advertising for a mammoth 19,000 seasonable jobs. The majority of the festive roles be in the company's warehouses and customer service centres across the country.

John Tagawa, Amazon's vice president of UK operations, said: "We are 100% focused on providing an exceptional customer experience and to ensure that we maintain this high level of service during the Christmas period, thousands of seasonal associates will join our teams across the UK.

"There are many people who take up seasonal roles each and every Christmas. We look forward to welcoming them back, as well as the many new faces who will join us for the first time."

The company has eight distribution centres (otherwise known as fulfilment centres) across the UK in Doncaster, Dunfermline, Gourock, Hemel Hempstead, Milton Keynes, Peterborough, Rugeley and Swansea Bay. The retailer also plans to open a new operation up in Dunstable, which will create 500 full-time roles in the Bedfordshire town.

Royal Mail and Argos

Amazon UK is not the only big business gearing up the Christmas retail rush as Royal Mail has also launched a seasonal recruitment drive. The company is also looking for 19,000 staff to help distribute the post over the festive period. The Royal Mail and Parcelforce positions will be available from mid-November through until early January 2016.

"Christmas is our busiest time of year. We plan all year round to help ensure we deliver the best possible service for consumers and businesses in the UK," said Sue Whalley, the chief operations officer of Royal Mail. "Every Christmas, we make a substantial commitment in additional resources to handle the festive mailbag, including the recruitment of thousands of temporary workers."

Argos, which has launched a same day delivery service, is hoping to hire up to 9,000 workers across the UK to help with the Christmas spending splurge. The firm explained it would be looking to recruit 8,000 "customer helpers" and 1,000 delivery drivers.

"To make sure we offer customers the best possible service, we need extra support in our stores and we're looking for people who are customer focused, energetic and enthusiastic.

"As we gear up to make getting hold of Christmas gifts as easy as possible, for the first time we are also seeking drivers to join our store teams and support local deliveries to customers," said Steve Carson, director of retail and customer operations at Argos.

"People are at the heart of our business and we are committed to maintaining the friendly, personal service we are known for, whether customers are shopping online or in-store. We can offer fantastic, flexible training that will also benefit people for the long term."