Edinburgh among plans by Amazon to create 1,250 jobs across UK

Amazon is planning to create another 1,250 jobs across the UK – including in Edinburgh – as part of a major expansion.

The business will hire staff for its tech hubs in the Scottish capital and Cambridge, as well as its offices in London and Manchester, and it will be looking for workers across its UK fulfilment centres.

The US online retail giant has already created 10,000 jobs so far this year and the announcement comes as part of the company's Career Day – an event for jobseekers later this month. Amazon has a UK workforce totalling more than 55,000.

The company said it is hiring for 2,500 jobs in the country, but, when asked, it did not know how many are new positions and how many are part of the 10,000 already announced.

The retail giant, which has already created 10,000 jobs this year, will be recruiting for its tech hub in the Scottish capital. Picture: Ian Georgeson.

All it could say was that some of the 2,500 jobs are part of the 10,000 new roles already announced, but that "the majority are new positions".

The retail giant has a development centre in Edinburgh, in 2018 detailing planned expansion of the site, which was its first such facility outside the US.

Chief executive Andy Jassy said: "Amazon continues to grow quickly and relentlessly invent across many areas, and we're hoping that Career Day gives both jobseekers and current Amazon employees the support they need to learn new skills or reimagine their careers at Amazon or elsewhere."

The company's UK country manager John Boumphrey said: "Whether you're looking to start your first job, to gain new skills, or thinking of a completely fresh start in a new field, we have thousands of exciting opportunities available right across the UK.

"We created Career Day to provide free guidance, coaching and inspiration to anyone who wants to develop their career, whether that's with Amazon or somewhere else."

Online deliveries took off during the pandemic as Britons were stuck at home and unable to visit all but the most essential shops. This provided a boost for online retailers such as Amazon ahead of their closed bricks-and-mortar counterpart. The new jobs in the UK are part of 55,000 globally announced by Mr Jassy. However, Amazon’s working practices have not been without criticism.

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