- Amazon announced it is going to invest over $700 million to upskill 100,000 U.S. employees by 2025
Amazon has announced that it is going to invest more than $700 million to provide upskilling training programs for one in three of its employees (100,000 people) in the U.S. The employee upskilling investment builds on Amazon’s $15 minimum wage.
These programs will enable Amazonians from all backgrounds to access training in order to move into highly skilled technical and non-technical roles across the company’s corporate offices, fulfillment centers, tech hubs, retail stores, transportation network, or organizations outside of Amazon.
According to a review of its workforce and analysis of U.S. hiring, Amazon’s fastest growing highly skilled jobs over the last five years include data mapping specialist (832% growth), data scientist (505% growth), solutions architect (454% growth), security engineer (229%), and business analyst (160% growth) along with logistics coordinator, process improvement manager and transportation specialist within our customer fulfillment network. And within customer fulfillment, highly skilled roles have increased over 400%, including jobs like logistics coordinator, process improvement manager and transportation specialist within the customer fulfillment network.
The Upskilling 2025 pledge involves investing in a range of new upskilling programs to serve employees from all backgrounds and Amazon locations. And programs include Amazon Technical Academy (equips non-technical Amazon employees with the essential skills to transition into and thrive in software engineering careers), Associate2Tech (trains fulfillment center associates to move into technical roles regardless of their previous IT experience), Machine Learning University (offers employees with technical backgrounds the opportunity to access machine learning skills via an on-site training program), AmazonCareer Choice (a pre-paid tuition program designed to train fulfillment center associates in high-demand occupations of their choice), Amazon Apprenticeship (a Department of Labor certified program that offers paid intensive classroom training and on-the-job apprenticeships with Amazon), and AWS Training and Certification (provide employees with courses to build practical AWS Cloud knowledge that is essential to operating in a technical field).
“Through our continued investment in local communities in more than 40 states across the country, we have created tens of thousands of jobs in the U.S. in the past year alone,” said Amazon Senior Vice President of HR Beth Galetti. “For us, creating these opportunities is just the beginning. While many of our employees want to build their careers here, for others it might be a stepping stone to different aspirations. We think it’s important to invest in our employees and to help them gain new skills and create more professional options for themselves. With this pledge, we’re committing to support 100,000 Amazonians in getting the skills to make the next step in their careers.”
The upskilling programs are built by Amazonians based on insights provided by Amazon’s workforce – which will reach 300,000 employees in the U.S. this year along with experts in the changing jobs landscape.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported there are now more job openings (7.4 million) than there are unemployed Americans (6 million). And the BLS anticipates some of the fastest growing job areas are increasingly in more skilled areas, including medical assistants, statisticians, software developers, nurse practitioners, and wind turbine service technicians over the next decade.
So this provides a major opportunity for individuals who build additional skills to move into better paying jobs. And through the Upskilling 2025 pledge, Amazon is focused on creating pathways to careers in areas that will continue growing in years to come, including healthcare, machine learning, manufacturing, robotics, computer science, cloud computing, and more.
“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,” added Jason Tyszko — Vice President at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. “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.”
