By Lucy Caulkett-
Retail giant Amazon says it will pay bonuses to attract temporary staff as it recruits 20,000 seasonal UK workers.
The company will offer the one-off payments in high labour demand areas, with extra pay for those willing to work nights.
The move is the first of its kind by Amazon to its employees in this area, but among a series of financial initiatives by Amazon in the last year.
Amazon has been seasonally increasing its workforce through higher wage packets in the past year.
In August, Amazon announced it was offering £1,000 starting bonuses to new warehouse workers, due to rising demand for goods and to combat the UK’s recruitment crisis.
In addition to this, the retailer allowed full-time and contract members of staff to have immediate starts, flexible hours and a pay rate of up to £11.10 an hour for daytime shifts, which then doubles to £22.20 an hour for any overtime worked.
The business is advertising for full-time and temporary contracts on the Indeed jobs website for positions in locations in and around London including Croydon, Erith, Enfield, Hemel Hempstead and Luton.
Its latest recruitment drive will involve hiring 20,000 temporary staff across its UK network of warehouses and delivery centres in the run up to Christmas.
Whistleblowing Hotline
Amazon’s seismic rise to great exploits hasn’t been without its controversies.
Last March, Unite, the union, launched a whistleblowing hotline for Amazon workers in the UK. It also called for Amazon to allow British workers to unionise and to have a greater share of the firm’s profits.
In July, the union described working conditions at Amazon as “Charles Dickens meets 21st century Britain”.
However, Jezz Bezoz has continued to defy expectations. He donated $100m to CNN ‘s Van Jones and Chef Jose Andres, to honour them as part of a philanthropic initiative called the Courage and Civility Award.
He said the award aims to honor those who have “demonstrated courage” and tried to be a unifier in a divisive world.