Apprentice helps Amazon celebrate 1,000 new apprenticeships for 2024

Daventry’s Tia Kerby-Camps is an apprentice at the Amazon fulfilment centre in the town.

Tia works as a learning trainer at Amazon. She has been with the company for over three years and is currently completing a Level 5 Learning and Development Consultant Business Partner Apprenticeship through the Amazon Apprenticeship programme.

After finishing her A-Levels, Tia went to university to study film and television. About a month in, she felt it wasn’t for her. She moved back home and worked with a water treatment company, where she stayed for five years. After this, she moved to an administrator job with a small electrical distributor, where she progressed to a sales representative role.

During her time in this role, the pandemic hit. She was put on furlough for most of the year before being made redundant.

Tia shares what led her to start working at Amazon after her redundancy:

“I thought I would only be here for two or three weeks, but I ended up really enjoying working at Amazon and saw a lot of opportunities, so I stuck around. I worked in operations for a year before applying for a role in the learning team. I’ve been in this role for two years now, and it’s the best job I’ve ever had!

Tia applied for the Amazon Apprenticeship programme so that she could step up into a new role at work. She explains:

“I applied because I didn’t end up staying at university and I wanted something to work on for myself. I spent five or six months as the learning manager while we were waiting for our current manager to step in, and I really enjoyed that. I didn’t make it into the apprenticeship programme the first time I applied, but after my time working as a manager, I knew I needed something to help me develop. I applied again and was successful.”

Tia shares her favourite thing about her role at Amazon, as both a learning trainer and an apprentice:

“There’s a lot of variety in my role. We deliver lots of training sessions, as well as working on lots of logistics. I enjoy doing my apprenticeship assignments, and find I am quite good at the writing side of things. It’s been a great development opportunity for me.

“I also like the networking opportunities within the programme and have made many connections from that. My communication skills have improved a lot since working here, and I have never been exposed to such a diverse group of people from so many walks of life. Like I said, it’s the best job I’ve ever had!”

Tia has some advice for anyone considering an apprenticeship with Amazon:

“Go for it! I have really enjoyed my experience, and I like that you can dedicate so much time to your professional development. You will receive a lot of support and there’s a wide network of apprentices available to help you through it.”

Tia is due to finish her apprenticeship in 2025. She hopes to stay within the learning team at Amazon and eventually move into a learning manager or learning specialist role.

Amazon offers one of the UK’s top private sector apprenticeship schemes according to the Top 100 Apprenticeship Employers[1], including entry-level placements and more than 230 degree-level apprenticeships in programmes including accounting and data analysts.

Recruitment has now started for more than 30 different schemes, from sustainability to engineering, project management to product buying, and warehouse team leaders to health and safety technicians.

This year, Amazon is also launching new programmes including the digital product manager apprenticeship and the commercial procurement and supply apprenticeship. The range of different apprenticeship schemes reflect both Amazon’s diverse workforce and the communities it serves every day across the UK.

As well as offering hundreds of new roles to external candidates, more than half of the new apprenticeships will be offered to existing employees who will have the opportunity to retrain and gain new skills for an exciting new career path. In 2023, two thirds (67%) of new apprentices at Amazon were aged 25 and over, an increase of 10% year on year, which demonstrates the support apprenticeships provide in helping people pursue new careers.

Nicola Drury, Head of Skills and Apprenticeships at Amazon, said: “Every year we look forward to recruiting ambitious and enthusiastic apprentices to join our teams working to deliver for customers all over the UK. Whether they’re retraining to begin a new and exciting career, or gaining new skills to take their career in a new direction, we’re proud to provide opportunities for people to find their dream roles.”

The 1,000 new apprenticeships highlight Amazon’s ongoing commitment to creating jobs and training opportunities for people across the UK. Once qualified, apprentices will have the opportunity to work across Amazon’s UK sites including fulfilment centres, delivery stations, sortation centres as well as corporate offices in London and Manchester, and four development centres in Cambridge, Edinburgh, London, and Swansea.

Amazon apprentices work across a wide variety of different schemes in hundreds of teams, from software developers in Prime Video, buyers in fashion, and production in Amazon Studios. This year apprentices could be a solutions architect in Amazon Web Services, a marketer in Amazon Music, or work with cutting-edge technology in operations as an engineer.

Since 2021, Amazon has pledged £8m supporting over 400 SMEs with apprenticeships via the apprenticeship levy transfer service. To date, Amazon has supported over 750 apprentices across a wide range of schemes including adult care, data, dental nurses and broadcast production assistants.

In addition to the apprenticeship schemes, Amazon employees can also take advantage of Amazon’s pioneering Career Choice programme, which pre-pays up to 95% of tuition and fees 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.

Competitive pay, comprehensive benefits and a modern, safe and engaging work environment is provided for its employees. The roles pay a minimum of £11.80 or £12.50 per hour, rising from April to between £12.30 and £13 per hour, depending on location, and up to £33,500 a year for degree-level apprenticeships. All employees also receive a benefits package that includes private medical insurance, life assurance, income protection, and an employee discount – which combined are worth thousands annually – as well as a company pension plan.

Amazon has been named as a ‘Top Employer UK 2024’ by the Top Employer Institute, one of the world’s most prestigious certifications in the field of human resources management. This award recognises Amazon’s commitment to the development and well-being of its employees. In addition to the UK accolade, Amazon has also been certified as one of the Top Employers in Europe for the second consecutive year. https://www.aboutamazon.co.uk/news/top-employer-2024

Applications are now open for Amazon’s apprenticeship programme. For more information, visit: www.amazonapprenticeships.co.uk

[1] https://topapprenticeshipemployers.co.uk/files/Top100AE23.pdf