Amazon says it is investing over $700M to upskill 100,000 employees
Online retail giant Amazon announced it will invest more than $700 million upskill one in three employees or 100,000 staffers by 2025.
The company announced the plan in a news release Thursday saying the training program will help staffers “move into more highly skilled roles within or outside Amazon.”
Some of the programs that were announced include the Amazon Technical Academy, Machine Learning University, Amazon Career Choice, Amazon Apprenticeship, AWS Training and Certification and Associate2Tech. Some of the courses will be taught by Amazon staffers who were previously professors.
The company said it was expanding Career Choice saying it will pay up to 95 percent of an employee’s tuition and fees towards a certificate or diploma in their chosen field of study.
“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,” Beth Galetti, the senior vice president of Amazon’s Human Resources department. “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.”
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Amazon cited the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which said jobs that appear to be continuously growing are in “more skilled areas” such as nurse practitioners, medical assistants and software developers. The retail giant said it was “focused on creating pathways to careers in areas that will continue growing in years to come.” Amazon said the training is voluntary and most of the programs were free for staffers.
Amazon said the announcement furthers its pledge to supports employees citing its decision to raise the minimum wage for workers to $15 an hour.
