Support to make sure everyone benefits from Amazon jobs

12 March 2020

An employment scheme that aims to offer people from all backgrounds the support to apply for upcoming roles at the new Amazon site in Darlington has been launched.

Up to 1,000 jobs are available at the Amazon warehouse, including a number of fulfilment associate roles in the warehouse.

Amazon has committed to making sure that the opportunity to apply for jobs is spread as widely as possible to people in Darlington and the wider Tees Valley – particularly those people who might traditionally struggle to access employment opportunities.

The company is working with recruitment firm People Plus to fill the fulfilment associate roles and has launched its free Routeways programme, which will give learners a Level 2 Diploma in Employability Skills, plus warehousing training, and a guaranteed interview with Amazon.

To be eligible for the scheme applicants must be:

Unemployed
On a programme such as Routes to Work or the Youth Employment Initiative
A care leaver
Not in education, employment or training (NEET)

The roles on offer are permanent contracts, 40 hours a week, with a starting salary of £9.50 per hour. Applicants must be over 18.

Darlington Borough Council has lent its support to the initiative and is helping to share information about the scheme through its own support programmes and with other community projects in the borough.

Councillor Heather Scott, leader of Darlington Borough Council, said: “It’s wonderful that Amazon have committed to a scheme such as this and are working to make sure that the hundreds of roles they are offering are open to as many people as possible.

“For some people who are perhaps inexperienced or who have been out of work for some time, applying for roles such as this may seem out of reach. The scheme on offer aims to give people confidence and to help them with CV writing and the application itself.

“The fact that it will lead to a recognised qualification means that even if applicants aren’t ultimately successful, they will still come away with skills that will help them going forward.”

For more information on the Routeways programme, contact your Job Centre Work Coach via Journal or ask at your next appointment, or alternatively ask your Routes to Work or Youth Employment advisor.