The UK has grappled with a worsening employment situation, as young workers experience joblessness at a higher rate than older workers. The government has encouraged employers to do their part to reduce the youth unemployment rate, and Amazon is the latest company to pick up the baton.
On Oct. 20, the e-commerce giant announced a new program called the Amazon Youth Promise, through which it aims to create 30,000 new entry-level jobs in the UK by 2030, the Independent reported. The initiative is geared toward young workers, but will also provide job training to people “not in education, employment or training” (also known as Neets). Salaries will start at 31,000 British pounds (roughly $41,500).
“When I visit our sites, I meet young people who had no idea where to start six months ago,” John Boumphrey, UK country manager for Amazon, said in the company’s press release. “They didn’t have a CV. They didn’t have experience. What they had was a positive attitude and a willingness to learn.”
Despite this and other recent recruitment announcements, including plans to hire 300,000 seasonal workers for the holidays, Amazon has also cut white-collar jobs, letting go of roughly 1,000 workers in India, the UK, and its retail business in early October, Business Insider reported. That’s on top of the 30,000 jobs it cut over the past year to restructure its business and focus more on AI.
With roughly one million Neets in the UK right now, mainly concentrated in the country’s largest cities, entry-level jobs are in-demand. Amazon is just one of several employers, including tech firms Microsoft, Cisco, and IBM, that have pledged through the government’s Youth Guarantee initiative to create more jobs for young Britons.
“This government’s mission is to get Britain working, which is why we are backing employers who share our ambition to create opportunity in every part of the country,” Pat McFadden, UK work and pensions secretary, said in a statement announcing Amazon’s Youth Promise. “This is exactly the kind of employer leadership that will reach young people in the communities that need it the most and drive our economy forward.”