Job listings on the Indeed website contain several offers for Amazon warehouse workers, many of which say that staff are “urgently needed”. A number of them are offering candidates a special joining fee: a one-off bonus of £500 or £1,000.
Successful candidates for the warehouse operative vacancies in Eastwood and Mansfield, for example, could receive the £1,000 if they join the company between 23rd of August and 18th September. The offers relate to a temporary Fixed Term Contract valid until January 2022.
Nottingham, Coalville, Avonmouth, Coventry, Birmingham, Penryn, Redditch, Kingston-upon-Hull, Greenwich, Littlehampton, Barking, Exeter, Bridgend and Durham: staff shortages have long been a nationwide challenge for the retail giant – even before the ecommerce boom observed in recent times. Black Friday and Christmas 2021 are likely to see demand grow further.
The bonuses for fulfillment centre staff come following several announcements of similar offers for lorry drivers.
At the beginning of the month, Tesco announced a £1,000 signing-on fee to drivers, and rival Asda followed suit. Aldi has increased wages too, while milk supplier Arla are also offering a signing-on bonus of £2,000 for truckers willing to do weekends. Gist, who work with Marks and Spencer, have a £2,000 signing-on bonus on offer as well (as part of a claimed £5,000 incentive overall).
According to the latest ONS data, there were an estimated 953,000 job vacancies in the UK from May to July 2021. This is a record high – up 43.8% (290,000) compared with the previous quarter. Moreover, ONS data shows significant growth in vacancies in the transport and storage sector – 14,000 more than in Q3 2020.