Amazon Pledges 30,000 UK Entry-Level Jobs by 2030 After Cutting 30,000 Corporate Roles
Amazon has launched the Amazon Youth Promise, aiming to create 30,000 entry-level jobs in the UK by 2030 with salaries starting at £31,000, as the country faces high youth unemployment and roughly one million young people not in education, employment or training.
Amazon will create 30,000 new entry-level jobs in the United Kingdom by 2030 through a program called the Amazon Youth Promise, the company announced, aiming to address a worsening employment picture for young British workers. Salaries for the roles will start at £31,000, roughly $41,500.
The initiative is aimed at young workers but will also offer job training to people who are not in education, employment or training, a group known as Neets. Amazon said the program is meant to reach people who may lack a CV or prior experience but are willing to learn.
«When I visit our sites, I meet young people who had no idea where to start six months ago,» John Boumphrey, Amazon’s UK country manager, said in the company’s announcement. «They didn’t have a CV. They didn’t have experience. What they had was a positive attitude and a willingness to learn.»
The pledge comes as the UK grapples with youth joblessness at a higher rate than among older workers. Roughly one million Neets are currently in the country, concentrated mainly in its largest cities, making entry-level roles especially sought after. The government has encouraged employers to help reduce the youth unemployment rate, and Amazon is the latest company to answer that call.
Amazon is not alone in making such a commitment. Tech firms Microsoft, Cisco and IBM are among the employers 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, the 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.»
The hiring promise stands in contrast with Amazon’s recent corporate workforce reductions. The company has cut white-collar jobs, letting go of roughly 1,000 workers in India, the UK and its retail business in early October. That came on top of 30,000 jobs cut over the past year as Amazon restructured its business to focus more on artificial intelligence.
At the same time, Amazon has continued to announce large-scale recruitment in other areas, including plans to hire 300,000 seasonal workers for the holidays. The mix of announcements reflects a company reshaping its corporate operations around AI while still adding frontline and entry-level staff.
For young UK job seekers, the entry-level pledge offers a concrete path into the workforce at a time when competition for early-career roles is intense. The starting salary of £31,000 is above the UK’s minimum wage for most age groups, and the training component is designed to bring in candidates who might otherwise be overlooked by traditional hiring processes.
Whether the program delivers all 30,000 roles by 2030 will depend on how Amazon’s UK operations evolve and on the broader labor market. For now, the company has committed publicly to the target, and the government has pointed to it as an example of the employer-led approach it wants to see more of.
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