Amazon pledges proper rates of pay for new workers
RETAIL giant Amazon has pledged to pay its seasonal staff proper rates of pay after plans for a massive recruitment ahead of the Christmas rush.
The company has started hiring for more than 20,000 seasonal roles within its UK fulfilment centres – including 4,500 at its depot in Rugeley.
If the recruitment is successful it would see the workforce at the Staffordshire operation growth to 6,000 people – making it one of the largest employers in the county.
The company has consistently come under fire for its working conditions but it has been transparent with its pay rates.
It said pay rates for seasonal staff start would at £7.35 an hour. For permanent employees, the pay rate increases over their first two years of employment when all employees earn £8.15 an hour and above. All permanent fulfilment centre employees are given stock grants, which over the last five years were on average equal to £1,000 or more per year per person.
Fulfilment centre employees also receive a comprehensive benefits package, including private medical insurance, a company pension plan, life assurance, income protection, subsidised meals and an employee discount.
Many that join for seasonal roles may go on to find permanent positions with the business, it said.
John Tagawa, Amazon’s Vice President of UK Operations, said: “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.
“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.”
The online retailer currently has 10 fulfilment centres in the UK, including two in Doncaster and one each in Dunfermline, Dunstable, Gourock, Hemel Hempstead, Milton Keynes, Peterborough, Rugeley and Swansea Bay. Two new fulfilment centre are also opening, in Manchester and Coalville, Leicestershire, next month creating 1,500 new permanent jobs over the next three years.
The company said the recruitment numbers were so large because it was anticipating its biggest Christmas period ever, including next month’s 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.
