07 Oct PATHWAY TO SUCCESS: TILBURY EMPLOYEE HOPES TO INSPIRE OTHERS DURING LEARNING AT WORK WEEK 2020
Amazon in Tilbury has teamed up with the Campaign for Learning’s Learning at Work Week to encourage associates to get involved by taking part in development opportunities to help enhance their careers and pursue their dream job.
Learning at Work Week 2020 (5 – 11 October), delivered by educational charity Campaign for Learning, aims to put a spotlight on the importance and benefits of continual learning and development. This year, the charity’s theme for Learning at Work Week is Learning Journeys, which aims to encourage collaboration, training and development to help people to achieve new experiences inside and outside work.
One initiative Amazon offers employees is an innovative programme called Career Choice, which pre-pays 95% of tuition for courses in high-demand fields, up to £8,000 over four years, regardless of whether the skills are relevant to a career at Amazon.
Amazon has also recruited more than 700 apprentices during 2020, helping young people begin their careers in fields ranging from automation engineering and IT to digital marketing and fashion buyers, with pay of up to £30,000 a year for degree-level apprenticeships. A typical apprenticeship combines theoretical learning with hands-on training, enabling participants to obtain qualifications and degrees and earn money in the process.
Amazon also provides opportunities to improve existing skills or learn new ones through internal career progression opportunities such as cross-training, transferring to a different department and promotion into a managerial role.
Natalie Emmerman (29), who has worked for Amazon for three years, has been on her own learning journey.
Natalie, from Thurrock, previously worked in hospitality and was the manager of a champagne and cocktail bar before leaving for a new challenge. Natalie, who holds a BSc in Criminology & Psychological Studies, joined Amazon’s fulfilment centre in Tilbury when it opened in 2017.
“Amazon appealed to me because the structure of the shift patterns means it’s easier for me to spend time with my kids. Working nights means I didn’t miss any time with them, and I was free to do the nursery runs every morning.
“I’ve had so many opportunities since my first role began at Amazon, and I’m proud to have been able to use the different training programmes to progress to roles like instructor and area manager, working across multiple teams and departments during my three years here.
“I’ve had a huge level of support from the leadership team and that’s made me strive to learn and improve even more. My journey within Amazon has provided me with the ability to progress my career within a fast-paced environment whilst being able to spend the time with my family and succeed at home, as well as in my workplace. It’s been fantastic.”
Amazon Tilbury Site Leader, Carlos Guijarro Benito, added: “Natalie’s progress at Amazon has been inspiring for us all and it’s fantastic to see how she has grown since joining us. At Amazon, we pride ourselves on offering associates opportunities to grow and learn through a variety of development programmes. It’s fantastic to team up with Campaign for Learning during Learning at Work Week and we’re looking forward to many more of our associates joining Natalie in developing their learning journeys.”
Julia Wright, National Director, Campaign for Learning said:
“Learning at Work Week is all about raising the profile of learning, and showing how it can help you get to where you want to be, whatever your starting point. It’s great to see how Amazon is supporting colleagues to develop at work through apprenticeships, Career Choice and internal career progression. We hope colleagues enjoy exploring during the week the opportunities on offer, as it’s never too late to start a learning journey.”
Amazon provides some of the most advanced workplaces of their kind in the world, with industry-leading pay, processes and systems to ensure the wellbeing and safety of all employees.
Pay starts at £10.80 p/h for all full-time, part-time, temporary and seasonal employees working at Amazon’s Tilbury fulfilment centre.
Employees are offered a comprehensive benefits package, including private medical insurance, life assurance, income protection, subsidised meals and an employee discount – which combined are worth more than £700 annually – as well as a company pension plan.
Amazon recently announced that 10,000 new permanent roles are being created across the UK in 2020, taking the company’s total permanent UK workforce to more than 40,000.
The new roles, including engineers, graduates, HR and IT professionals, health and safety and finance specialists, as well as the teams who will pick, pack and ship customer orders, will help Amazon meet growing customer demand and enable small and medium sized enterprises selling on Amazon to scale their businesses.
In addition, Amazon is creating 20,000 seasonal positions across the UK ahead of the festive period at its sites across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and at three pop-up fulfilment centres.
