Apply for £2.5 million Amazon Apprenticeship Fund for SMEs

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Amazon have announced the creation of an Amazon Apprenticeship Fund to help small businesses across England take on apprentices through the levy transfer scheme. The Apprenticeship Levy is an amount paid at a rate of 0.5% of an employer’s annual pay bill and levy-paying employers can transfer up to 25% of their annual funds to other employers if they don’t use it all themselves.

The £2.5 million Amazon Apprenticeship Fund will help create more than 200 new apprenticeships in 2021, with roles now available across Digital Marketing, Business Administration, Post Production Technical Operators, Visual Effects Artists, Broadcast and Media Technicians, DevOps Engineers, AI Data Specialists, Software Development, Data Analysts, Cyber Security Technologists and more.

Amazon Apprenticeship Fund for businesses selling on Amazon

Amazon themselves are recruiting for over 1,000 full-time apprenticeships in the UK in 2021, covering 25 different programmes ranging from IT, safety technician and HR through to software engineering, production and creative digital design. That won’t use up all of their levy however, so basically Amazon have the choice of paying the balance to the government or gifting it to you. Get in touch with Amazon today if you are interested in taking on an apprentice!

Amazon will work directly with small businesses selling on Amazon to help boost their productivity, sales, exports and marketing skills for the digital age by taking on apprentices who will undertake training in these areas. Lasting between 12-48 months, and covering apprenticeship standards funding of up to £27,000, apprentices will receive a mix of on-the-job and classroom training, together with specialist online training provided by Amazon which covers how to build a successful ecommerce business, how to market and advertise products to customers, and how to sell to a global customer base.

AWS and Creative apprenticeships

As part of the Apprenticeship Fund, Amazon is supporting 50 apprentices for customers of AWS when they take on AWS re/Start graduates in IT technical apprenticeship roles, such as DevOps and IT Solutions. AWS re/Start is a free, full-time skills development and training programme that prepares individuals for careers in the cloud and connects them to potential employers.

Amazon have also set aside £1 million over two years within the Apprenticeship Fund specifically to support apprenticeship roles in the creative industries, including across the film & TV sectors, music and publishing.

“We are proud to be creating new opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds across England to gain skills through the Amazon Apprenticeship Fund. We are committed to supporting the UK’s economic recovery post-Covid, and this fund will give our partners, customers and small businesses in the Amazon ecosystem the opportunity to take on talented apprentices who will help those organisations grow.”
– John Boumphrey, UK Country Manager, Amazon

“The Amazon Apprenticeship Fund has already been hugely beneficial for me. As a smaller company, online marketing is the best way to promote your business, and bringing those functions in-house is more manageable financially. I have received lots of continued support both from my course mentor and Amazon directly – it’s great to see Amazon empowering small businesses like mine.”
– Rana Righton, Founder, The Gluten Free Bakery

“It is brilliant to see Amazon continuing to support apprenticeships within its business and beyond. Apprenticeships play a key role in helping businesses of all sizes develop the skilled workforce they need and secure their talent pipeline for the future. With apprenticeships available for a huge range of exciting careers, from Digital Marketing to Data Analyst, Cyber Security to Broadcast Technician, there are so many great opportunities available at a range of levels. As a former apprentice myself, I know the life changing impact an apprenticeship can have. I’d urge as many people as possible to check out the opportunities on offer.”
– Gillian Keegan, Minister for Apprenticeships and Skills

“The creative industries are at the heart of our plans to build back better from the pandemic and apprentices will be vital to this effort. I am pleased to see Amazon has committed £1 million to fund apprentices in the creative industries and look forward to seeing their careers flourish.”
– Caroline Dinenage, Culture Minister

Amazon is encouraging small businesses in the creative industries, together with AWS customers, small businesses selling on Amazon and local authorities who are interested in supporting new apprenticeship roles to contact apprenticeshipfund@amazon.com from today, where they will be put in touch with a member of the Amazon Apprenticeships team.

Tamebay.com