AN Amazon employee from Tilbury is sharing her career story during Learning at Work Week 2023 (15th-21st May) with the aim of inspiring others to achieve their professional goals through lifelong learning at work.
Learning at Work Week is an annual programme run by the charity Campaign for Learning. The charity works with organisations around the UK to create activities and fun challenges in the workplace to help employees learn and grow. This year’s theme, Create the Future, explores how lifelong learning at work can help individuals and communities achieve life and work goals, shape lives, drive innovation and achieve organisational ambitions.
Andreea Bacaintan, who works at the Amazon fulfilment centre in Tilbury, has used Amazon’s development and training opportunities to shape her professional career at the company and hopes her story will encourage others to take their career to the next level through the Amazon Career Choice programme.
Andreea, who is from from Tilbury, joined Amazon in 2019 and works at the fulfilment centre in the town. Whilst working at Amazon in the packing department, she is also participating in HGV driver training though the Amazon Career Choice programme.
Before joining Amazon, Andreea worked in an order fulfilment role at another company. Whilst in that role, she hoped for a career that was closer to home that would allow her to spend more time with her family, leading her to apply for a role at Amazon in Tilbury.
At Amazon, Andreea works with a large team of employees, which is something she really enjoys. She said: “If anyone has a problem, there is an endless amount of support from the team. It’s a great feeling to know that I work in a place where I can confide in my colleagues without any judgement.”
To anyone considering putting themselves forward for the Amazon Career Choice programme, Andreea said: “Amazon has given so much time and support to me throughout my training and I could not be more grateful for the skills I have learned. For anyone who has ever thought about learning a new skill, I would say take the leap and go for it! The Amazon Career Choice programme is a great opportunity for anyone hoping to boost their career.”
Andreea is nearing the end of her HGV driver training through the Amazon Career Choice programme and hopes to use Amazon Career Choice again to further her skills.
Career Choice is an innovative programme which provides funding for adult education, offering to pre-pay 95% of tuition and reimburse employees for eligible fees for nationally recognised courses; up to £8,000 over four years. Courses available include accountancy, HGV driving and software development, and are designed to help employees pursue careers at Amazon or elsewhere.
Since launching in the UK in 2014, Career Choice has seen around 13,000 participants explore a range of opportunities, including starting or returning to school, learning new skills and languages, or earning industry certifications. The most popular fields of study in the UK are transportation administrative and business services and technology.
Amazon also provides opportunities to improve existing skills or learn new ones through internal career progression opportunities such as cross-training, transferring to a different department and promotion into a managerial role.
Amazon Tilbury General Manager, Ruzanna Sargsyan, added: “We’re extremely pleased to have Andreea on the team here at Amazon in Tilbury. She is an example of how much you can achieve if you put your mind to it, and we’re sure that others will be inspired to fulfil their own potential after hearing her story. Career development is at the core of our culture at Amazon; employees have a wide variety of opportunities at their disposal, meaning that lifelong learning is possible for anyone. We look forward to seeing the great things Andreea and her colleagues will do in their careers in the future as a result.”
Amazon is investing £10 million over three years in training up to 5,000 employees in new skills to meet the UK’s future employment needs outside of Amazon. Amazon also partners with the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) and local businesses on the programme to identify regional skills shortages and focus training on local demand.
Amazon employees receive competitive pay and comprehensive benefits. Pay starts between £11 and £12 per hour depending on location and employees are offered a comprehensive benefits package, including private medical insurance, life assurance, income protection and an employee discount as well as a company pension plan.
To find out more about a career with Amazon, visit Amazon Jobs.
