Amazon to upskill 100,000 employees with in-demand skills

Amazon’s Upskilling 2025 pledge invests in a range of new upskilling programmes accessible to employees from all backgrounds and Amazon locations.

Programmes include Amazon Technical Academy, which equips non-technical Amazon employees with the essential skills to transition into, and thrive in, software engineering careers; Associate2Tech, which trains fulfillment centre associates to move into technical roles regardless of their previous IT experience and the Machine Learning University, offering employees with technical backgrounds the opportunity to access machine learning skills via an on-site training programme.

It also includes AmazonCareer Choice, a pre-paid tuition programme designed to train fulfillment centre associates in high-demand occupations of their choice; Amazon Apprenticeship, a Department of Labor certified programme that offers paid intensive classroom training and on-the-job apprenticeships with Amazon; and AWS Training and Certification,which provide employees with courses to build practical AWS Cloud knowledge that is essential to operating in a technical field.

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“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,” said Beth Galetti, senior vice president, HR, Amazon.

The upskilling programmes are built by Amazon employees, around insights provided by the company's fast-growing workforce – which will reach 300,000 employees in the U.S. this year – and experts in the changing jobs landscape.

Fastest-growing skilled jobs

Based on a review of the company’s jobs and analysis of hiring data from its U.S. workforce, Amazon’s fastest growing highly skilled jobs over the last five years are data mapping specialist (832% growth), data scientist (505%), solutions architect (454%), security engineer (229%) and business analyst (160%). Within customer fulfillment, highly skilled roles have increased over 400%, including jobs like logistics coordinator, process improvement manager and transportation specialist within our customer fulfillment network.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), there are now more job openings (7.4 million) than there are unemployed Americans (6 million). In looking at job growth over the next decade, 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. This provides a huge opportunity for individuals who build additional skills to move into better-paying jobs.

Through its 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.