Amazon to fund 300 apprenticeships for UK SMEs

Amazon will fund over 300 new apprenticeship roles in small businesses and organisations across the UK over the next 12 months.

The online retail giant will create the roles at small businesses and organisations selling on Amazon, Amazon Web Services (AWS) customers, creative industry partners and local authorities through its apprenticeship levy.

Amazon will have created 750 new apprenticeships by 2024 as part of an £8 million investment since launching its Apprenticeship Fund in 2021. The roles cover a wide range of jobs, from digital marketing to visual effects artists, cyber security specialists, and more. Lasting between 12-48 months, and covering apprenticeship standards up to £27,000, apprentices receive a mix of on-the-job and classroom training.

In the past five years, Amazon has onboarded more than 3,000 apprentices, with three quarters completing their respective schemes, well above the national retention average (51%). Nearly 9 in 10 (86%) of apprentices who were on a scheme at Amazon have gone on to take a permanent role at the company after completing their programme.

Amazon UK Country Manager John Boumphrey said: “We are proud of the positive impact the Amazon Apprenticeship Fund has created for apprentices, companies and communities across England. When we launched in 2021, we made a commitment to support around 250 new apprenticeships through the fund, but we’ve been inspired by the success of the programme to date, and expect to create around three times that number by this time next year.

“It means people across the country have been given a head-start in their career, or transferred into a new career with the right support and opportunities. As we expand, we hope other larger employers will also choose to transfer some of their unspent levy to create more valuable apprenticeship roles for people across England to gain new skills, supporting productivity and innovation.”

Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education, Robert Halfon added: “Thanks to Amazon’s continued investment in apprenticeships, over 450 apprenticeship roles in partner organisations have been created in the past two years alone. This is a fantastic example of how transformative the apprenticeship levy can be, allowing other businesses and SMEs across a range of in-demand sectors like manufacturing and social care to employ people with the specific skills their businesses need.

“The fund will also support Prime Video and Screen Skills’ work in providing flexi-job apprenticeships to talented individuals working on fantastic productions like Rings of Power. Extending the ladder of opportunity to people from all backgrounds and stages of their career is exactly how we will build a skills and apprenticeships nation, and I would encourage all large employers to follow their lead.”