By James Simons
Amazon is creating 7,000 jobs in response to growing demand, in addition to 3,000 roles it has so far in 2020.
The giant company is recruiting for roles at more than 50 sites. It said the creation of the new roles, which will include engineers, graduates, human resources, IT, health and safety and finance specialists, as well as the teams who will pick, pack and ship customer orders, was in response to growing customer demand.
Amazon said it would pay a minimum of £9.50 an hour. The giant global company also announced that it is also recruiting 20,000 seasonal UK posts for the festive period.The company has faced criticism in the past from unions over the way it treats staff and health and safety.
The new roles will include engineers, graduates, human resources, IT, health and safety and finance specialists, as well as the teams who will pick, pack and ship customer orders.
“At the centre of the job creation programme are three new, state-of-the-art fulfilment centres in Darlington, Durham and Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, each fitted out with advanced Amazon Robotics technology and each creating more than 1,000 new permanent roles,” the firm said in a statement.
“Construction of these new fulfilment centres began last year. Darlington started operations in May and the sites in Durham and Sutton-in-Ashfield will launch later this autumn.”
Business Secretary Alok Sharma said the pandemic had been a “challenging time for many businesses” but that the new Amazon jobs were “hugely encouraging”.
Amazon said that many of the new jobs would be created at state-of-the-art centres in Darlington, Durham and Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire, with each accounting for 1,000 roles.
Employment Drop
Overall employment in the Uk has experienced a sharp fall, as the number of employees on UK payrolls fell by 730,000 between March to July, according to the most recent figures.
However, while many sectors have been hit hard, some companies have said they need more workers.
Courier firm DPD and B&Q owner Kingfisher said in June that they would be hiring thousands more staff.
While High Street shops are still struggling with the effects of lockdown, including lower footfall, many more people are shopping online and want goods delivered.
Stefano Perego,,Amazon’s vice president of European customer fulfilment, said: “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.”