Amazon has announced plans to create more than 1,000 full-time apprenticeship roles in the UK over the next two years, with applications open from the first week of March.
The new apprentices will add to over 27,500 permanent employees currently in the UK, with pay ranging from an entry level starting salary of £9.50/£10.50 an hour, up to £30,000 a year.
Once qualified, apprentices will work across Amazon’s UK corporate and operations sites, including the company’s UK head office and three development centres in Edinburgh, Cambridge and London where teams work on innovations including Alexa, machine learning, Prime Video, Prime Air and Amazon’s technologically advanced fulfilment centres.
Nine different programmes lasting between 13 months and four years will be on offer across the country to people of all levels, ranging from IT, safety and HR through to software engineering, robotics, leadership and technology. In addition to being fully-funded, apprentices also receive benefits including employee discounts, private medical insurance and company pension plan.
More than 90 new Amazon degree and masters-level apprentices will also be available over the next two years as part of the programme, focused on software development engineering, senior leadership and automation with both in-work and in-classroom training.
Two in every ten new apprenticeships will be offered to Amazon’s existing workforce, providing a route from working on the shop floor through to working on cutting-edge software development, robotics technology and senior leadership roles in the business. Apprenticeships exclusively for Amazon employees range from a senior leaders masters degree apprenticeship, through to HR consultant; safety, health and environment technician and team leader/supervisor.
“We want to give people opportunities to succeed in the digital age, regardless of their background,” added Doug Gurr, UK country manager, Amazon.
“Our fully-funded apprenticeship programme, from entry level through to degree level, will provide an exciting path to becoming Amazon’s future team leaders, engineers and innovation drivers.”
Applications will open for Amazon’s apprenticeship programme from 4 March.