Posted November 10, 2019 07:21:46 With the arrival of Amazon Prime, more than 70,000 Australian jobs are on the line.
It’s a massive shift for the industry and the jobs are not guaranteed.
It is the biggest shift in the past 30 years for Australia’s tech industry.
As a new generation of young Australians enters the workforce with skills already in their stride, it is going to create new opportunities for the world’s largest technology company.
Amazon is investing $US15 billion ($19.7 billion) to open new warehouses in New Zealand and the US in 2019.
Amazon is looking for people with high-end engineering skills and other experience in software development, engineering technology, product development and other disciplines, in the areas of information technology, business operations, supply chain management and logistics.
“The key thing we’re looking for is people who are able to get on board with Amazon’s transformation plan to drive innovation and drive a new global business model,” said Andrew Coleman, chief executive of Amazon Australia.
The company is hiring for its global headquarters in New York, Seattle and Atlanta, and its new global headquarters is expected to open in 2020.
While Amazon will continue to employ thousands of Australians, the majority of its workforce will be located in New England, where it has more than 20,000 staff, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The company has more employees in New Jersey, Delaware and Virginia than it did in the whole of the US.
It will hire at least 30,000 more Australian employees in 2019, and expects to spend another $US25 billion ($28 billion) over the next five years on its workforce.
Amazon has about 12,000 Australians working in its warehouses and processing centres.
Australia has been one of Amazon’s largest export markets for years, with Amazon moving its fulfillment centres to Australia in 2014.
But Amazon’s workforce growth in the US has slowed since the global economic crisis, with more than half its Australian workforce now located in the country.
In 2019, Amazon’s US warehouse workforce was estimated to be 1.8 million, down from 3.2 million in 2020, according the Australian Business Traveller.
The Australian Retailers Association (ARSA) has urged Amazon to open up its Australian operations, saying they needed a strong presence to compete in a global market.
‘We can’t let this industry go’ Amazon chief executive officer Jeff Bezos, pictured with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, said Amazon was going to open its first Australian office next year.
“We’re going to invest in infrastructure, in technology, in human resources, in logistics, in distribution,” Mr Bezos said.
However, he said Amazon would not hire the same people in Australia and it would take time for them to adapt.
He said Amazon needed to get rid of its Australian employees.
“It’s going to take time,” Mr Amazon said.
“Australia is one of our biggest markets.
Amazon said it was open to having a third Australian office in the coming years.”
The reason we’re doing this is to put our Australian employees first, and then we’re going have a real competitive advantage.”
Amazon said it was open to having a third Australian office in the coming years.
