Amazon to shut three UK warehouses with 1,200 jobs affected
Amazon (AMZN) plans to shut three UK warehouses in a move which will impact 1,200 jobs.
A spokesman for the online retailer said the firm has launched consultations over the closure of three UK warehouses.
Sites in Hemel Hempstead, Doncaster and Gourock, in the west of Scotland, have been proposed for closure.
It is understood that all workers at the sites will be offered roles at other Amazon locations.
Amazon has also revealed plans for two new major fulfilment centres in Peddimore, West Midlands, and Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, which will create 2,500 jobs over the next three years.
The move comes as Amazon announced last week it is cutting 18,000 jobs — the biggest round of layoffs in the company's history — in a move that will affect workers in the UK.
Read more: UK workers at risk as Amazon axes 18,000 jobs globally
The online retailer said most of the job losses will come from its shops including Amazon Fresh and Go and its human resources division.
The cuts amount to 6% of the company's roughly 300,000-person corporate workforce. It has a global workforce of more than 1.5 million.
Chief executive Andy Jassy said in a note to employees, which was made public: “These changes will help us pursue our long-term opportunities with a stronger cost structure.”
He blamed the move on an “uncertain economy”, adding “we’ve hired rapidly over the last several years”.
The group expects to tell staff directly impacted by the cuts from 18 January and said it is offering a separation payment, transitional health insurance benefits, and job placement support.
The decision to shut three warehouses in the UK also comes as Amazon is set to endure a strike by workers in the UK for the first time.
Read more: Amazon to deliver by bike and on foot in London for first time
Members of the GMB union at the company's Coventry warehouse are due to walk out on 25 January as part of a fight for better pay.
"GMB urges Amazon UK bosses to give workers a proper pay rise and avoid industrial action altogether," the union's senior organiser Amanda Gearing said.
"They've shown they're willing to put themselves on the line to fighting for what's right.
"But people working for one of the most valuable companies in the world shouldn't have to threaten strike action just to win a wage they can live on."
