An apprentice who works at Amazon’s fulfilment centre in Tilbury is encouraging others to start an apprenticeship and boost their careers as Amazon announces the expansion of its apprenticeship programme with the addition of 1,000 new positions across the UK in 2024.
Amazon offers one of the UK’s top private sector apprenticeship schemes according to the Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers[1], including entry-level placements and more than 230 degree-level apprenticeships in programmes including accounting and data analysts.
Recruitment has now started for more than 30 different schemes, from sustainability to engineering, project management to product buying, and warehouse team leaders to health and safety technicians.
This year, Amazon is also launching new programmes including the digital product manager apprenticeship and the commercial procurement and supply apprenticeship. The range of different apprenticeship schemes reflect both Amazon’s diverse workforce and the communities it serves every day across the UK.
As well as offering hundreds of new roles to external candidates, more than half of the new apprenticeships will be offered to existing employees who will have the opportunity to retrain and gain new skills for an exciting new career path. In 2023, two thirds (67%) of new apprentices at Amazon were aged 25 and over, an increase of 10% year on year, which demonstrates the support apprenticeships provide in helping people pursue new careers.
One of the apprentices who has recently completed an Amazon apprenticeship is Evelina Slavova from Amazon’s fulfilment centre in Tilbury.
In 2020, Evelina completed the apprenticeship in business improvements, techniques, leadership and management at Amazon in Tilbury, winning Amazon’s internal Apprentice of the Year award in the process. Last year, Evelina chose to boost her skillset even further by starting an Amazon apprenticeship course for senior leaders.
It was one of Evelina’s managers who encouraged her to apply for her first apprenticeship to improve her confidence at work. Having joined Amazon as a packing employee in 2017, Evelina was looking for an opportunity to work with a big company and try something completely different to her previous roles as a freelance nail technician and operations manager at a cleaning company.
Evelina, who has been promoted to an area manager, has changed roles a lot within Amazon to grow in knowledge and experience different departments. She says that the knowledge she has gained is extremely important to her and has helped with her career progress within the company.
She said: “I loved my time on the Amazon apprenticeship programme so much that I decided to apply for another one. Over the past six years, I’ve learned many skills that have helped me to progress in my career, and I don’t want to stop yet.
Last year, Evelina was a runner up for the Rising Star of the Year Award at the National Apprenticeship Awards. She’s a huge advocate for Amazon’s apprenticeships and says her decision to join the company “changed her life”.
She concluded: “At Amazon, you are always being encouraged to grow and succeed, and being an apprentice has greatly improved my confidence. To anyone thinking about signing up, I say just apply!”
Nicola Drury, Head of Skills and Apprenticeships at Amazon, said: “Every year we look forward to recruiting ambitious and enthusiastic apprentices to join our teams working to deliver for customers all over the UK. Whether they’re retraining to begin a new and exciting career, or gaining new skills to take their career in a new direction, we’re proud to provide opportunities for people to find their dream roles.”
Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education Robert Halfon said:
“Apprenticeships are crucial to giving people from all backgrounds the chance to climb the ladder of opportunity while addressing skills gaps and helping to grow our economy.
“So, it is brilliant news that Amazon, one of our Top 100 apprentice employers is continuing to embrace apprenticeships, opening 1000 full time apprentice positions across the UK this year, including over 230 degree apprenticeships.
“Amazon is a world-leading employer – they understand the apprenticeship levy and use it well, and I hope more businesses follow their lead and experience the benefits of apprentices for themselves.”
The 1,000 new apprenticeships highlight Amazon’s ongoing commitment to creating jobs and training opportunities for people across the UK. Once qualified, apprentices will have the opportunity to work across Amazon’s UK sites including fulfilment centres, delivery stations, sortation centres as well as corporate offices in London and Manchester, and four development centres in Cambridge, Edinburgh, London, and Swansea.
Amazon apprentices work across a wide variety of different schemes in hundreds of teams, from software developers in Prime Video, buyers in fashion, and production in Amazon Studios. This year apprentices could be a solutions architect in Amazon Web Services, a marketer in Amazon Music, or work with cutting-edge technology in operations as an engineer.
Since 2021, Amazon has pledged £8m supporting over 400 SMEs with apprenticeships via the apprenticeship levy transfer service. To date, Amazon has supported over 750 apprentices across a wide range of schemes including adult care, data, dental nurses and broadcast production assistants.
In addition to the apprenticeship schemes, Amazon employees can also take advantage of Amazon’s pioneering Career Choice programme, which pre-pays up to 95% of tuition and fees for courses in high-demand fields, up to £8,000 over four years, regardless of whether the skills are relevant to a career at Amazon.
Competitive pay, comprehensive benefits and a modern, safe and engaging work environment is provided for its employees. The roles pay a minimum of £11.80 or £12.50 per hour, rising from April to between £12.30 and £13 per hour, depending on location, and up to £33,500 a year for degree-level apprenticeships. All employees also receive a benefits package that includes private medical insurance, life assurance, income protection, and an employee discount – which combined are worth thousands annually – as well as a company pension plan.
