Amazon launches 1,000 apprenticeships across UK

Amazon has announced it is set to create 1,000 apprenticeship roles in the UK this year, as it continues to invest in its UK operations. 

The full-time roles will be offered across 25 different schemes in order to match a diverse range of skillsets and ambitions, including automation engineering, broadcast production, robotics and safety technicians.

Over 500 of these roles will be offered to Amazon’s existing workforce, which it said will provide opportunities for employees to retrain and gain new skills. 

Apprenticeships exclusively for existing Amazon employees range from becoming a team leader through to a coaching practitioner.

The roles also include 100 degree-level apprenticeships in automation engineering, project management, software development and chartered management.

Once qualified, apprentices will be able to work across Amazon’s UK sites, including fulfilment centres, delivery stations, sortation centres, as well as the UK head offices in London and Manchester, and three development centres in Edinburgh, Cambridge and London.

The programmes, which are set to last between 14 months and four years, will pay a minimum of £10.80 per hour in the London area and £9.70 per hour in other parts of the UK, and up to £30,000 a year for degree-level apprenticeships.

John Boumphrey, UK country manager, Amazon, said: “We are proud to be creating new opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds across the UK to gain skills through our apprenticeship programmes in 25 different fields, from logistics to robotics. 

“An Amazon apprenticeship offers an exciting career path, creating opportunities within our local communities across the UK and helping our own employees retrain and gain new skills, at a time when investing in people and jobs has never been more important.”