Amazon is planning to hire 55,000 staff as it expands to meet the high demand for online retail, digital advertising and cloud computing triggered by the Covid pandemic.
About 2,500 of the jobs, most of which are in corporate and technology roles, will be in the UK. The US will host 40,000 of the new roles with the remainder located in Japan, India and Germany.
Meanwhile, in the UK, the online giant has revealed it is offering a £50 weekly bonus for permanent staff at some UK locations for turning up to work on time.
The reward is for people who have 100% attendance, excluding time taken off for sickness linked to disability and Covid.
The move is designed to help the firm meet summer and Christmas demand. The firm has also implemented a £1,000 joining bonus scheme for new warehouse workers available.
An Amazon spokesperson said: “We are currently offering an attendance bonus at a number of locations to permanent associates to support our summer demand and help us prepare for the festive season ahead.”
Amazon said the new UK staff would be based at its offices in London and Manchester, and at its Edinburgh and Cambridge tech hubs. It added that more more staff would also be hired across its UK fulfilment centres.
The firm was already in the process of recruiting up to 10,000 people in the UK, bringing its total UK workforce to about 55,000 before the latest announcement.
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Chief executive Andy Jassy, who replaced Jeff Bezos in July, said Amazon needed more staff to keep pace with expansion of its retail, cloud computing and advertising arms.
Bezos, whose personnel wealth grew by $24bn during the Covid crisis, has a new role of executive chairman.
“Amazon continues to grow quickly, and relentlessly invent across many areas,” Jassy said.
A significant number of the posts are likely to be connected with the company’s new satellite launch programme – Project Kuiper – to widen broadband access, Jassy told Reuters, adding that the firm needed more staff to keep up with demand in retail, cloud computing and advertising, among other businesses.
In early August Amazon delayed the date when it expected staff to return to the office until 3 January for an initial three days a week. It had planned to bring staff back into workplaces from 7 September, but Covid cases in the US have surged in many areas.
Other tech firms such as Google (10 January) and Apple (Jan-Feb) have also signalled they will be delaying their office returns.
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Amazon’s recruitment drive will be part of the company’s careers day, due to be held on 15 September. The new hires would represent a 20% increase in Amazon’s tech and corporate staff, who number about 275,000 globally, the company said.
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