Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) has announced it is looking to recruit thousands of people on temporary contracts and ramp up base pay for UK staff as the festive period approaches.
Some 15,000 roles will be added from 15 October, the e-commerce giant said on Monday, as some £170 million is invested into bumping up salaries.
Starting wages will increase to between £11.80 and £12.50 per hour meanwhile, having sat around £11.00 and £12.00 earlier this year.
“We prepare year-round for the festive season, so we’re also excited to have more than 15,000 seasonal positions available this year to help delight our customers,” Amazon UK manager John Boumphrey said.
“We look forward to welcoming back colleagues who return year after year to work at Amazon along with many who will join the seasonal team for the first time.”
Come April, Amazon plans to increase minimum staff starting pay once again to between £12.30 and £13.00 per hour.
Amazon employs around 75,000 people in the UK on a permanent basis, with thousands of job cuts earlier this year said to not have affected those working in Britain.
The latest pay rise will mean that Amazon has increased its minimum starting wage by 20% over the past two years, the company added, with this stretching to 50% since 2018.