Over one million people applied for a job at Amazon globally as part of Career Day 2021 – with around 30,000 people applying in the UK. The virtual event attracted job seekers from around 40 European countries. In the span of 24 hours, more than 2,000 Amazon recruiters offered 30,000 one-on-one career coaching sessions globally with participants in order to provide job seekers with professional advice to start, transition, or grow their careers whether they want to work at Amazon or elsewhere.

“We know there are a lot of people out there looking for work right now, and many more hoping to change their careers altogether,” said Beth Galetti, Amazon Senior Vice President of People Experience and Technology.

“We are paying close attention to this and we feel uniquely positioned to help—not only because of the tens of thousands of jobs that we have open, but also for the opportunity we offer people to build a meaningful career. We think Amazon is a great place to work for those who crave the freedom to invent, the chance to make a big impact, and an inclusive workplace to do so. We are glad so many people joined Career Day to learn more about the jobs we have to offer.”

We’ve been able to help thousands of people across the country learn new skills with free guidance and coaching, whether they see their long-term future at Amazon or elsewhere.
John Boumphrey, Amazon UK Country Manager

John Boumphrey, Amazon UK Country Manager, said, “We’re thrilled to see so many talented candidates register their interest in the exciting roles we have on offer at Amazon in the UK as a result of Career Day. We have had more than 30,000 applications from people with a wide range of experiences and backgrounds.”

He added, “Not only that, but we’ve been able to help thousands of people across the country learn new skills with free guidance and coaching, whether they see their long-term future at Amazon or elsewhere. And if you missed Career Day, you can still watch all of our sessions on-demand for the next month, so there’s still time to learn more about career opportunities at amazoncareerday.com”.

“From entry level to expert, these 2,500 roles offer opportunity for jobseekers at any stage of their career. And spread across the UK, these vacancies add to what’s already on offer in our jobs market,” said UK Government Minister for Employment, Mims Davies MP. “As we recover from the impact of the pandemic, our multi-billion Plan for Jobs is all about connecting jobseekers with the best opportunities out there and it’s encouraging to see big employers ramping up their recruitment as we start to see people return to work and progress.”

The 2,500 open roles across Amazon UK span the length and breadth of the country; from head offices in London and Manchester, to tech hubs in Cambridge and Edinburgh, as well as data centres and fulfilment centres across the UK. Amazon has roles in fields such as applied sciences, engineering, finance, human resources, software development, product management and more.

Highlights from Amazon Career Day in the UK include:

  • Over 30,000 job seekers visited the event site and had the chance to receive advice from Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce, Shevaun Haviland and New York Times Bestseller David Epstein, and many more.
  • Since announcing Career Day 2021 on the 1st of September, Amazon UK has received around 30,000 job applications for corporate, tech and operations roles. Some of the most popular positions among job seekers were software development, IT, support engineers, and operations management roles.
  • Participants had the opportunity to learn about the 2,500 open corporate, tech and operations roles across over 80 locations.
  • UK job seekers attended around 3,000 free one-to-one career coaching sessions with Amazon recruiters to help prepare for their next job.

New survey shows labor market trends

According to a new Morning Consult job seeker insight survey commissioned by Amazon, 21% of the UK are actively searching for a new job and a further 38% of UK professionals are interested in finding a new job, but are not actively looking. The survey also revealed:

  • 42% of active UK job-seeking adults are interested in pursuing opportunities in industries they do not have experience in.
  • Among employed adults in the UK, 29% say the COVID-19 pandemic has caused them to reconsider their career paths.
  • 78% of professionals in the UK say they want more job training/resources.

Working at Amazon

There are now 55,000 Amazon employees in the UK and Amazon expects to create more job opportunities in a variety of areas by the end of this year. All Amazon jobs come with competitive pay and benefits, whether they are based in a fulfillment center or in a corporate office. Amazon has already created 10,000 new permanent roles in the UK in 2021 and 1,000 new fully-funded apprenticeship roles, as well as a £2.5m Apprenticeship Fund to help small businesses across England upskill their workforces.

For hourly workers, pay starts at a minimum of £11.10 p/h in the London area and £10.00 p/h in other parts of the UK. Amazon employees work in some of the most advanced workplaces of their kind in the world, with a comprehensive benefits package including private medical insurance, life assurance, income protection and an employee discount, which combined are worth more than £700 annually, as well as a company pension plan.

For employees who see Amazon as a stepping stone to a future career outside of Amazon, it has also created a pioneering Career Choice programme, through which Amazon pre-pays up to 95% of tuition fees for nationally recognised courses, ranging from accountancy to HGV driving and software development.

Up to £8,000 of tuition fees over four years is available through the programme. Amazon is partnering with the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) and other local businesses on the programme to identify regional skills shortages and focus training on local demand – this will help meet the UK’s future employment needs outside of Amazon.

To explore open roles visit Amazon.jobs, or view the recordings of the Amazon Career Day programming which are available from now until the end of the month.