Amazon pledges to upskill 100,000 US workers

Amazon is to invest over $700 million to retrain 100,000 of its US employees by 2025 as technology reshapes various roles at the e-commerce giant.

This amounts to spending around $7,000 per employee on roughly a third of its workforce Stateside. Training will be offered to employees across its corporate offices, tech hubs, fulfillment centres, retail stores and the transportation network. 

“Through our continued investment in local communities in more than 40 states across the country, we have created tens of thousands of jobs in the US in the past year alone,” says Beth Galetti, Senior Vice President, HR at Amazon. 

“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. We think it’s important to invest in our employees, and to help them gain new skills and create more professional options for themselves.”

The announcement comes as Amazon faces a sustained backlash over its working conditions. Next week, workers at its Shakopee, Minnesota warehouse will go on strike to coincide with Prime Day 2019. Last year, its warehouse staff took part in similar strikes across Europe.

The company has countered by highlighting its $15 minimum wage and such benefits as medical insurance, 401k savings plan and “generous” parental leave.

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