What it does: Amazon specialises in digital areas such as eCommerce, cloud computing, consumer electronics, artificial intelligence, online streaming, film making or movie production, online distribution, and self-driven automobiles.
Mission: Amazon's mission is to serve its customers through digital and offline stores as well as focusing on pricing, selection, and convenience.
Size and presence: Amazon employs more than 70,000 workers to man its head offices and warehouses in the UK. The company has a couple of offices and about 20 warehouses.
Best known for: Amazon is one of the five biggest IT firms in the world, alongside Apple, Meta, Alphabet, and Microsoft. Amazon is best described as one of the most valuable companies in the world and an economical & cultural force. Amazon has numerous subsidiaries, but it's best known for its eCommerce services. Amazon has also won multiple awards. Amazon UK won the Most Popular Employer in the UK (LinkedIn 2019). In 2021, Amazon UK was ranked second on the Top 300 Graduate Employers in the UK
The good bits: Amazon has a great working environment. The company offers several employment benefits and perks.
The not so good bits: There's a high competition rate for getting jobs at Amazon. There's very high work pressure.
In 1994, Jeff Bezos started Amazon from his garage in Bellevue. Three years later, the company gained a public listing, and in 1998, Amazon began selling media content. The company began acquiring book-selling outlets from Germany and the UK. In 1999, Amazon expanded its product catalogue and began selling home improvement items, consumer electronics, video games, toys, and software.
In 2002, Amazon Web Services was launched. This digital technology was helpful to developers and marketers because it provided data on internet traffic patterns, website popularity, and other analytical data. Four years after its launch, the AWS portfolio grew in size with the emergence of Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2). The new technology leased computer processing power, data storage, and simple storage. Still, in 2002, Amazon launched Fulfillment. Through this, the company permitted small-scale companies and individual retailers to sell their products through its site.
Ten years later, Amazon purchased Kiva Systems to facilitate the automation of its inventory management. In 2017, Amazon acquired Whole Foods Market Supermarket Chain. Last year, Jeff Bezos stepped down as CEO and ascended to the position of Director of the Executive Board. Amazon came to the UK in 1998.
Amazon doesn't have a fairytale kind of company culture like some companies. The atmosphere within Amazon is fast-paced and intense because the company is results-driven. This makes them demand high performance from their employees. As a digitally-oriented company, it also encourages innovative ideas. Admittedly, the high-pressure environment in Amazon is not easy to keep up with. This makes the company ideal for fresh graduates or interns who are hungry and willing to function under pressure.
Amazon adopts a thorough hiring process which includes:
Amazon has a career programme tailored to cater to undergraduates, graduates, and interns who want to have some work experience or a full-time job. Amazon values its staff and offers students and graduates the chance to participate in the meaningful work it does. There's also the perk of gaining indirect mentorship from more experienced colleagues. In Amazon, fresh graduates and interns are bred to challenge ideas, positively challenge each other, and deliver even under pressure. This can be an invaluable skill set for an employee.
The average annual salary a fresher earns at Amazon is roughly £30,000.
Amazon UK has actively contributed through financial aid, cloud computing, and its products to support the Ukrainians during their war with Russia.
Some of the products sold in Amazon's stores have been considered offensive by certain categories of people.