Amazon to create 7,000 new jobs at UK warehouses
3 September 2020, 13:02 | Updated: 3 September 2020, 13:15
Online giant Amazon is to create 7,000 new jobs in the coming months at its warehouses and other sites across the UK.
The company has already hire 3,000 new employees this year and aims to recruit 10,000 extra staff by the end of the year.
The increase will take the company's UK workforce to more than 40,000 - one of the largest employers in the country - while many other employers face making mass redundancies.
The new jobs will be created at Amazon's warehouses, sorting centres and delivery sites as well as in its offices.
Each position will be permanent and pay a minimum of £9.50 an hours.
Amazon's vice president of European customer fulfilment, Stefano Perego, said: "We're proud to be creating 10,000 new permanent roles across our UK network of fulfilment centres, sort centres and delivery stations offering competitive wages and comprehensive benefits starting on day one.
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"Our people have played a critical role in serving customers in these unprecedented times and the new roles will help us continue to meet customer demand and support small and medium-sized businesses selling on Amazon.
"The new state-of-the-art robotics fulfilment centres in the North East and the Midlands, as well as the thousands of additional roles at sites across the country, underline our commitment to the people and communities in which we operate."
It follows calls from the Government for workers to return to offices amid the Covid-19 crisis and concerns over mass redundancies across the country.
Amazon said the new roles, including engineers, graduates, human resources, IT, health and safety and finance specialists, as well as the teams who will pick, pack and ship customer orders, will help it meet growing customer demand.
Amazon has already offered temporary roles to thousands of people whose jobs were impacted at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, many of whom will now be offered a permanent job.
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Business secretary Alok Sharma said: "While this has been a challenging time for many businesses, it is hugely encouraging to see Amazon creating 10,000 jobs in the UK this year.
"This is not only great news for those looking for a new job, but also a clear vote of confidence in the UK economy as we build back better from the pandemic."
Amazon is also creating more than 20,000 seasonal positions across the UK ahead of the festive period at its sites across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and at three pop-up warehouses, or "fulfilment centres".
There have been concerns raised, however, about the wellbeing of Amazon warehouse staff, with a worker in February telling LBC how staff were not allowed to talk, go to the toilet and were being closely watched throughout the whole of their shift.
