Amazon offers new educational benefit to non-U.S. workers
Amazon’s Career Choice program is expanding its slate of language programs globally.
Through Career Choice, Amazon now provides English-language classes in the 13 non-U.S. countries the program operates, as well as local language classes in some of those countries. These new offerings will include English-language classes in all countries, and local languages in Canada (French Canadian), France (French), Germany (German), Italy (Italian), Poland (Polish), and Spain (Spanish).
Career Choice currently operates in 14 countries including the U.S., U.K., Canada, Germany, and Poland. In 2022, Career Choice expanded its offerings in the U.S. to include English-language programs, pre-paid college tuition, and GED and high school diploma programs.
To date, Amazon says 8,000 employees in the U.S. have participated in the English-language proficiency programs. So far in 2023, Amazon says it has already seen more than 20,000 participants sign up for Career Choice globally.
Career Choice assists college education
Launched in 2012 to aid Amazon employees in obtaining continuing education, Career Choice was expanded in January 2022 so that Amazon hourly employees with at least three months’ tenure do not have to pay the cost of their education. Through its Career Choice program, the company funds full college tuition, as well as high school diplomas, GEDs, and English as a Second Language (ESL) proficiency certifications for frontline employees.
Amazon plans to invest a total of $1.2 billion by 2025 to expand the education and skills training benefits it offers to U.S. employees. The company will pay employees’ tuition and fees in advance, rather than offering reimbursement after coursework completion.
Frontline employees will have access to annual funds for education as long as they remain at the company, with no limit to the number of years they can benefit. All 750,000 U.S. hourly employees are eligible to participate in after starting at Amazon.
Career Choice is one of nine free skills training and education programs that Amazon offers to its employees as part of its Upskilling 2025 pledge.
[Read more: Amazon unveils nearly $1 billion employee retraining initiative]
“Employees with multilingual skills are a vital resource in helping the business succeed and grow in global markets,” said Stefano Perego, VP of Customer Fulfillment for Worldwide Operations at Amazon. “I grew up speaking Italian and learned English as a second language. Being multilingual helped me secure my first role at Amazon, nearly 11 years ago, and has propelled my career in many ways. The ability to communicate with colleagues around the world and connect with different types of people has provided me countless opportunities and helped shape my career. I’m excited about the expansion of the program to empower our employees to learn a new language, or explore the other offerings available through Career Choice.”