Amazon is to provide training for 100,000 – or one in three – of its US employees by 2025 so that they are equipped to take on highly skilled roles of the future.
The company will invest over $700m (£564m) in a range of new upskilling programmes, enabling people from all backgrounds to move into highly skilled technical and non-technical roles across its corporate offices, tech hubs, fulfilment centres, retail stores and transportation network, or to pursue career paths outside of Amazon.
Based on a review of its workforce and analysis of US hiring, Amazon said that its fastest growing highly skilled jobs over the last five years include data mapping specialist (832% growth), data scientist (505%), solutions architect (454%), security engineer (229%) and business analyst (160%). Within customer fulfilment, highly skilled roles have increased by over 400%, with jobs such as logistics coordinator, process improvement manager and transportation specialist within the customer fulfilment network.
The new training programmes include Amazon Technical Academy, which equips non-technical Amazon employees with the essential skills to transition into software engineering careers; Associate2Tech, which trains fulfilment centre staff to move into technical roles regardless of their previous IT experience; Machine Learning University, offering employees with technical backgrounds the opportunity to access machine learning skills via an on-site training programme; AmazonCareer Choice, a pre-paid tuition programme designed to train fulfilment centre staff in high-demand occupations of their choice; Amazon Apprenticeship, offering paid intensive classroom training and on-the-job apprenticeships with Amazon; and AWS Training and Certification, providing courses to build practical AWS Cloud knowledge that is essential for operating in a technical field.
Commenting on the announcement, Jason Tyszko, vice president at the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation, said: “The future of work is now and the challenge is not just adapting to new technologies, but adapting to the dynamism of the economy, which will only accelerate.
“Amazon is demonstrating the new role employers must play to counter that challenge, fostering a new relationship with workers where maintaining and growing their skills is an imperative for business success.”
Research for our Next-generation connectivity report showed that investing in skills is one of four key steps that organisations need to take to prepare for the era of next-generation internet connectivity. Download your copy of the report to learn more!
