Amazon to add 15,000 jobs across Europe, 5,000 in Britain

Amazon to add 15,000 jobs across Europe, 5,000 in Britain
By Euronews
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Online retailer Amazon has said it will create more than 5,000 jobs in Britain this year, part of 15,000 in various European countries.

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Online retailer Amazon has said it will create more than 5,000 jobs in Britain this year.

At least 2,000 of those had actually been announced before but the news is an indication that the company will continue to invest there despite the decision to leave the European Union.

The additional positions will take its permanent workforce in the UK to more than 24,000.

“These new job opportunities are for people with all types of experience, education and skill levels, from software developers, engineers and technicians, to those seeking entry-level positions and on-the-job training,” it said in a statement.

Amazon’s new head office in London will have capacity for more than 5,000 people by the end of the year, the firm said.

It joins other technology giants – such as Google and Apple – that have increased their commitment to Britain in the last year. The concentration of tech expertise in London has been cited by many firms as an attraction.

European expansion

Amazon said the hiring plans for Britain are on top of an extra 10,000 full-time posts to be created in continental Europe this year including 1,500 in France where it already has more than 4,000 workers.

Investing in Europe – 15,000 new full-time jobs to be created in 2017 #AmazonJobshttps://t.co/2pts7J8QShpic.twitter.com/F7H9o2a2d0

— AmazonNewsEU (@AmazonNewsEU) February 20, 2017

The company plans to open its fifth logistics center in Poland this year, it said on Monday, seeking to benefit from the country’s relatively low wages and proximity to the large German market.

The decision adds to a trend of multinational companies opening shared services and logistics centres in the European Union’s largest eastern member to tap its relatively large and skilled workforce.

Amazon currently employs over 7,000 people on regular job contracts in its three centres in western Poland, close to the border with Germany.

Last year, it announced the opening of another centre in the north-western city of Szczecin, also near the German border.

The new logistics centre in Poland could also help insulate Amazon’s business from the risk of frequent strikes by its workers in neighbouring Germany.

German trade unions have organised strikes at Amazon since 2013 to press demands for the retailer to raise pay for warehouse workers in accordance with collective bargaining agreements in Germany.

Amazon also recently said it sould hire an additional 100,000 full-time workers in the United States, which led to the strange situation of President Donald Trump claiming credit for job creation by a company he has criticised in the past as a tax dodger.

Trump Takes Credit For New Amazon Jobs, Forgets He Called the Company a ‘Big Tax Shelter’ https://t.co/Kzclwd1Ll6pic.twitter.com/UIKBTpR3pM

— Startup Life (@becausestartup) February 2, 2017

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