Amazon to hire 3,000 workers for festive rush
AMAZON has started recruiting for seasonal roles – and the online retail giant is looking to recruit 3,000 positions at its Jersey Marine site
There are currently 1,200 permanent workers at the Amazon Swansea Fulfilment Centre, with 200 temporary employees currently going through the process of being made permanent.
The multinational, a major employer in the region, is recruiting more than 20,000 seasonal roles across its UK centres.
“The thousands of seasonal associates who join us at this time each year play an integral role in helping us deliver an exceptional experience for our customers during the Christmas season,” said John Tagawa, Amazon’s vice-president of UK operations.
“We look forward to welcoming back the people who join us each and every Christmas as well as many new faces who will be joining the Amazon team for the first time.
“As we continue to grow our network, there will be opportunities for people who join us in seasonal roles to transfer to permanent positions.
“I am delighted that more than 2,000 people who worked for Amazon in seasonal positions last Christmas are now in permanent roles.”
Pay rates for seasonal staff start at £7.35 an hour in Swansea. For permanent employees, the pay rate increases over their first two years of employment when all staff earn £8.15 an hour and above.
All permanent fulfilment centre employees are given stock grants, which over the past five years were on average equal to £1,000 or more per year per person.
Other incentives they receive include a benefits package, private medical insurance, company pension plan, life assurance, income protection, subsidised meals and an employee discount.
Pat Faulkner, general manager at the Jersey Marine centre, told the South Wales Evening Post the Swansea site was “at the heart of UK distribution” and its growing fashion line was testament to that.
The global online retailer is set to double its clothes and shoes stock at Jersey Marine by Christmas.
Recruitment for seasonal roles is now under way through local recruitment agencies, including Jobcentre Plus Swansea.
Amazon currently has 10 fulfilment centres in the UK and new centres are opening in Manchester and Leicestershire next month creating 1,500 new permanent jobs over three years.
Amazon is anticipating its biggest Christmas period ever, including Black Friday.
On Black Friday last year, Amazon.co.uk sold more than 7.4 million items, at a rate of around 86 items per second.