Amazon has announced it will create 4,000 new permanent positions in its UK warehouse operations, as part of a significant employment push. The announcement comes as the retail giant has been accelerating its UK hiring over the past few years, with this move set to

​​The company has stated that as part of a massive employment drive, 4,000 new permanent roles will be created in the United Kingdom.

The announcement comes as the retail behemoth has increased employment in the UK over the previous few years; with this change, its permanent UK staff will increase to 70,000.

The new hires are expected to include roles at newly constructed facilities in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, and Knowsley, close to Liverpool. According to Amazon, 40,000 new jobs have been created in the UK since 2020.

The new hires will include corporate and warehousing positions in London and Manchester, as well as technology-focused roles in Edinburgh and Cambridge, including some at Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Amazon said the move would make it one of the UK’s biggest private sector employers, joining John Lewis and Alliance Boots and overtaking the UK military.

According to John Boumphrey, Head of UK National at Amazon:

“People join us not only because of the wide variety of jobs we offer, the attractive compensation and benefits, but also because of the career development opportunities we offer.”

He further adds:

“We continue to invest properly in talent across the UK, from interns in Swansea to data scientists in Edinburgh. People join us not only for the wide variety of roles, great salaries and benefits, but also for the career development opportunities we offer.”

The announcement comes as signs are emerging that Amazon’s growth could slow, at least in terms of its retail presence.

Amazon’s global sales has seen increase of 7% to $116.4 billion in the first quarter of 2022, a steep drop from the 44% growth in the same period in 2021. Whist it recorded its first net loss since 2015 of $3.8 billion.

However, consumers reportedly bought more than 300 million items internationally during Prime Day 2022, making it the largest event in Amazon’s retail history.

Declining post-pandemic enthusiasm for online retailing could also lead to excess storage capacity, at least in the United States.

According to unnamed sources by Bloomberg, excess space issues are hitting warehouses in New York, New Jersey, Southern California and Atlanta.