The online company will recruit new staff for its Edinburgh base as well as the distribution centre in Dunfermline.
Amazon has today announced that it will hire more than 15,000 people across the UK for seasonal positions in its fulfilment and customer service centres to meet customer demand this Christmas period. Amazon is creating jobs in a variety of roles across its eight UK fulfilment centres and its Edinburgh customer service centre.
“On our busiest shopping day last Christmas, customers ordered a total of 3.5 million items during one 24-hour period at a rate of 44 items a second,” said Catherine McDermott, Director of Operations at Amazon.co.uk Ltd. “During the Christmas season, seasonal associates play a critical role in making sure we meet increased demand from customers. As we continue to expand our UK operations, we expect many hundreds of these temporary associates to move into permanent positions as has been the case in previous years.”
Last year, Amazon created more than 10,000 seasonal jobs in the run up to Christmas. By the end of January 2013, Amazon had offered permanent roles to 1,000 temporary associates – and an additional 500 temporary associates will have moved into permanent jobs by the end of the year.
Seasonal jobs are currently available in Amazon’s Doncaster, Dunfermline, Gourock, Hemel Hempstead, Milton Keynes, Peterborough, Rugeley and Swansea Bay fulfilment centres. Amazon has opened five new UK fulfilment centres in the last five years, creating more than 2,500 permanent jobs.
This year, Amazon’s UK fulfilment centres will hold more products than ever before. The tens of millions of items in these centres include not only Amazon’s retail stock but also products from Amazon Marketplace sellers taking advantage of Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA). With FBA, Marketplace sellers make the most of Amazon’s fulfilment technology by storing their products in Amazon fulfilment centres. Amazon picks, packs and delivers these items and also provides customer service support. These products can be shipped to customers all over the UK and Europe and are eligible for all Amazon’s delivery services including Amazon Prime.
Recruitment for the 15,000 seasonal jobs will be ongoing in the run up to the Christmas period. Those interested can apply now by going to www.amazon-operations.co.uk.
Amazon has more than 6,000 permanent employees in its UK offices, fulfilment centres and customer service centres. The company recently secured a 210,000 sq ft office in Central London to provide additional capacity for future growth.
Candidates can learn more about these open positions at www.amazon.co.uk/careers.
SNP Dunfermline by-election candidate Shirley-Anne Somerville said:-“Today’s announcement is good news for people in Dunfermline, Gourock and Edinburgh. It means that 2,700 people who would otherwise be out of work over Christmas will have jobs and an income in the coming months.
“It is a welcome boost to the local economies in these areas and to the household budgets of the many people who will be taken on.
“It is also further vindication of the SNP Government’s investment in helping Amazon to bring more jobs to Scotland.
“Given Labour’s past negativity towards the jobs Amazon has created in Scotland, they should make clear whether they now recognise that today’s announcement is a positive one.
“Instead of sniping from the sidelines, Labour need to recognise that the jobs created in these communities are extremely welcomed and should clearly be recognised as such.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
