Dive Brief:
- E-retail giant Amazon has announced it's adding 5,000 new U.K.-based jobs despite fears surrounding Brexit, according to a CNN report. The company plans to hire engineers, software developers, technicians, HR specialists and management level employees.
- Amazon also hopes to hire "flight test engineers" for its consumer drone delivery program, set to launch soon. Like rivals Google and Expedia, Amazon has its sights set on rapid expansion in the U.K. and is setting up a new head office in the east London area of Shoreditch. This indicates that tech firms are not fearful of what the nation's recent 'Brexit' vote may bring.
- The U.K. market represents $9.5 billion in sales for Amazon, and the company expanded it's global employee division by 50% last year.
Dive Insight:
Brexit has many organizations worried about the future, especially those with a large international base of employees. It's clear from the plans that Amazon, Expedia, Google and other tech firms have announced that they are moving forward despite the uncertainty.
Many experts predict that any changes in the split between Britain and the European Union will take years to actually happen, so for most companies, its business as usual. Others are taking a watch and wait approach, somewhat stalled in their growth.
From a recruitment standpoint, this can be a positive thing as more companies will be turning to temporary contractors to fill roles until things settle down.
