Amazon has today confirmed plans to open a new fulfilment centre near Manchester Airport – creating 1,000 new permanent jobs over three years.
The online giant will be recruiting for a range of positions including operations managers, engineers, HR, IT and associates who will handle orders at the fulfilment centre, which is due to open in the autumn.
The 654,000 sq ft warehouse – close to the Four Seasons roundabout at Hale Barns – will form part of Airport City, an £800m scheme encompassing five million sq ft of hotels, offices, manifacturing, logistics and retail space. Amazon also has a 42,840 sq ft office and a 120,000 sq ft car park.
“We are excited to open our first fulfilment centre in the North West of England, creating 1,000 new permanent jobs over three years with competitive wages and comprehensive benefits starting on day one,” said John Tagawa, Amazon’s Vice President of UK Operations.
“We are proud to continue to add new permanent jobs to grow our dedicated and enthusiastic workforce who play a crucial role in delivering a first rate level of service for our customers.”
And in what seemed to be an attempt to counter recent negative headlines about working conditions for Amazon staff, the company said that all employees at the centre would start on £7.20 an hour or more.
This rate will then increase by at least 11% over their first two years of employment, by which time all employees earn £8 an hour or more.
All permanent fulfilment centre employees are also given stock grants, which over the last five years were on average equal to £1,000 or more per year per person.
Fulfilment centre employees also receive a comprehensive benefits package, including private medical insurance, a company pension plan, life assurance, income protection, subsidised meals and an employee discount.
Amazon also runs a programme called Career Choice that provides fulfilment centre employees funding for adult education, offering to pre-pay 95% of tuition and associated fees for nationally recognised courses, up to £8,000 over four years.
The company is already recruiting for a range of positions – you can view the current roles on the Amazon careers website.
