Amazon is looking to upskill 100,000 of its employees across the United
States — that’s almost a third of its workforce. The retail giant will
invest over 700 million US dollars in trainings to enable people from all
backgrounds, working in its corporate offices, tech hubs, fulfillment
centers, retail stores and transportation network, to move into more highly
skilled roles within or outside Amazon. The program will last five
years.
“For us, creating these opportunities is just the beginning. While many
of our employees want to build their careers here, for others it might be a
stepping stone to different aspirations”, explained Beth Galetti, Senior
Vice President, Human Resources, in a statement. “We think it’s important
to invest in our employees, and to help them gain new skills and create
more professional options for themselves”.
100,000 Amazon associates will receive additional training
Training programs include Amazon Technical Academy, which equips
non-technical employees with essential skills to transition into software
engineering careers; Associate2Tech, which will train fulfillment center
employees to move into technical roles; Machine Learning University, which
will provide machine learning skills to employees with technical
backgrounds; Amazon Career Choice, a pre-paid tuition program aimed at
fulfillment center employees in high-end occupations of their choice;
Amazon Apprenticeship, a program offering classroom training and on-the-job
apprenticeships at Amazon; and AWS Training and Certification, which will
help employees with AWS Cloud knowledge.
Amazon added that a review of its workforce and the US job market
revealed the fastest growing highly skilled jobs over the last five years
include data mapping specialist, data scientist, solutions architect,
business analyst, logistics coordinator, process improvement manager and
transportation specialist.
The news comes days after employees of an Amazon warehouse in Minnesota
announced a six-hour strike during Amazon Prime Day, the
retailer’s annual sales event, to demand better working conditions.
Amazon came under fire last year after a report by nonprofit
organization New Food Economy revealed the e-tailer was one of the American
companies with the most employees receiving SNAP benefits, also known as
food stamps. The outcry led Amazon to raise its minimum wage in the US to 15 US dollars an
hour in October 2018.
The retail giant has over 630,000 employees worldwide. In the United
States, it is set to reach 300,000 employees by the end of the year.
Picture: Amazon newsroom
