Amazon to spend more than $700 million to retrain some US workers

Amazon announced plans to invest more than $700 million to retrain workers across the US so they can work in skilled technical and non-technical roles in its corporate offices, tech hubs, fulfillment centers, retail stores and transportation network.

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The goal of the plan is to upskill 100,000 or one in three of its US employees to have them work in more-in-demand jobs by 2025

The in-demand jobs

Jobs in demand include data mapping specialist, data scientist, solutions architect, business analyst, logistics coordinator, process improvement manager and transportation specialist. The company claims that based on a review of its workforce and US hiring these positions are the fastest growing highly skilled jobs over the last five years.

Data mapping specialists have seen a job growth of 832 percent over the last five years. Data scientist positions grew by 505 percent. Solutions architect by 454 percent and others have also grown over one hundred percent. Highly skilled jobs in customer fulfillment have grown by 400 percent.

In the US alone Amazon is expected to have 300,000 employees this year and up to 630,000 workers globally.

The retraining programs

The cost of the investment breaks down to about $7,000 per worker. This is one of the largest corporate retraining programs so far. The funding will cover a range of program both existing ones and new initiatives. It will also be used to train people with and without technical backgrounds.

The new Amazon Technical Academy will be part of the program and will train non-technical Amazon employees with the skills that will allow them to transition to software and engineering career. The new Associate2Tech program will train fulfillment center associates to move into more technical roles. Finally the new Machine Learning University will train those who already have a technical background to move into the area of machine learning.

Amazon will also expand its Career Choice program that it launched back in 2012. This program offers pre-paid tuition to fulfillment center associates who want to move into high-demand jobs. The program also offers Amazon Apprenticeship a program certified by the Dept. of Labor. This program offers classroom training and on the job apprenticeships with the company. The video appended is produced by Sanders.

Company statement

Beth Galetti, a senior vice president said: “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. 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."

Not long ago Amazon was under attack for the treatment of its workers

Bernie Sanders has constantly attacked Amazon. He noted that wages were so low for some jobs that workers were unable to look after their families and were on government subsidy programs such as food stamps. However, the company has boosted its minimum wage up to 15 dollars. The new retraining program should help some employees move to better paying jobs. As warehouses become more automated lower-skilled jobs may be eliminated and the program will allow some to stay with the company and with better pay and no doubt in jobs with better conditions.

Previously published in the  Digital Journal