Despite the many implications and uncertainties surrounding various markets after last year’s “Brexit” decision, Amazon appears to be having no real trouble hiring people and expanding its business in the U.K. In fact, the retail shipping giant has revealed plans to double the current task force at the company, in high-tech positions in the research and development sector, from 450 to 900. To accommodate all of the extra employees, Amazon has acquired an entire building in Shoreditch. That’s a change from when, in 2014, Amazon had only planned to occupy 11 floors of the 15-floor structure. That increase in R&D workers is also on top of the already announced pledge to take the number of full-time permanent employees in the U.K. up by 5,000. Amazon has already made significant gains on that front, with approximately 2,000 employees left to go. It also follows several other plans the company has for both the U.K. and E.U. countries, including plans to open up an online car dealership serving both regions.
Speaking on the matter, Amazon’s UK Country Manager, Doug Gurr, has said that the ability to increase jobs is a result of communication and agreement between the government in the U.K. and the E.U. Those agreements applied to both E.U. citizens within the U.K. and to citizens of the U.K. in Europe during Brexit. Gurr went on to say that the company has seen, and continues to see a flood of applications for “every role” that has been put up for grabs. The confidence expressed by Amazon, through Gurr, may stem from promises made by the government official at the head of the ongoing Brexit process. Furthermore, according to Gurr, Amazon is prepared to adjust or revamp to suit “whatever framework” the company “ends up with.”
Amazon is, of course, an enormous company. It has also, probably unsurprisingly, dealt with its share of turmoil and uncertainty in the past, with the most recent pertaining to its pricing policies. So its successes, in spite of the problems related to citizen status and other related factors, could be down to experience the organization has in dealing with issues. It could also show that the British government’s promise for a smooth transition was not entirely empty.