The online retailing giant will create 2,500 British jobs in areas from machine learning to customer service, Amazon said in a statement. The company added 5,000 U.K. workers last year.
“We’re committed to the U.K.,” Doug Gurr, Amazon’s head for the country, said Wednesday at a press briefing. “It’s a very important consumer market and a fantastic source of talent.”
With nine months until the nation is scheduled to leave the European Union, businesses say they have little visibility into what Britain’s future trading relationship with the bloc will look like. Some are adding facilities in Europe to prepare for potential supply-chain bottlenecks, and conservative rebels are calling on Prime Minister Theresa May to abandon her plan to take the U.K. out of the single market.
Supermarket chains Tesco Plc and J Sainsbury Plc have cut thousands of jobs amid the Brexit questions, while Tata Motors Ltd.’s Jaguar Land Rover, Britain’s biggest carmaker, slashed 1,000 jobs earlier this year. CEO Jamie Dimon has said JPMorgan Chase & Co. may cut more than 4,000 U.K. jobs if a suitable Brexit deal isn’t reached.
