Amazon training program hits milestone

Amazon’s innovative re-training program has hit an all-time high.



The online giant’s Career Choice program, which pre-pays 95% of tuitions for employees pursuing courses in in-demand fields, regardless of the relevancy to jobs at Amazon, has now helped more than 10,000 employees. And Amazon has no intention of quitting now. In fact, the company expects participation “to double by 2020, with more than 20,000 employees pursuing new careers through the program,” according to Dave Clark, Amazon’s senior VP for worldwide operations.



The online retailer has built on-site classrooms at 25 fulfillment centers, and recently expanded the program to help address national skill gaps. New areas of study include robotics, engineering and technology, computer science, photovoltaic (PV) design principles and practices learning, as well as hands-on installations to become a certified PV installer by the North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP). More than 500 employees are currently enrolled in robotics related courses in the U.S., according to Amazon.



Last year, Amazon also began open-sourcing the Career Choice program, and sharing its best practices and lessons learned to help other companies implement similar programs. To date, hundreds of businesses have sought information on the program for their own employees, the company said.



“The Career Choice program is unique in that it helps train employees for high-demand roles that often go unfilled due to a lack of skilled workers, which means employees may actually leave Amazon to go on to be nurses or pharmacy technicians,” said Clark. “We help remove the barriers for employees by doing the homework for them to find the high-demand careers in their area. We exclusively fund those areas of study and work with local colleges to offer courses onsite at fulfillment centers in our dedicated classrooms.”