It will be hiring at its head office in London, at three research and development centres in Cambridge, Edinburgh and London, at its customer service centre in Edinburgh and at warehouses across the country.
This will take the online retailer’s workforce in Britain to more than 14,500 by the end of 2016.
Amazon is also hiring people to support a new UK datacentre region, in addition to Frankfurt and Dublin, which will launch early next year.
Next year, the US company plans to open its new head office, which will house 5,000 employees, in Old Street, central London.
The business secretary, Sajid Javid, said: “Amazon’s continued investment in the UK is very welcome news and a further demonstration that the UK is a great destination for innovative industries to invest and do business. These new permanent jobs will build on the UK’s record levels of employment and give added security to working people across the country – from app developers in Edinburgh to fashion photographers in London.”
Christopher North, the managing director of Amazon UK, said: “Britain has a world-class tech sector with a reputation for innovation and excellence. These new jobs we are creating … are testament to the quality of the workforce in the UK and our confidence in its economy, which we are proud to support through our continued investments.”
The move forms part of plans to create several thousand new jobs in Europe this year, boosting Amazon’s 40,000 workforce. Last year, it hired 10,000 people, a 50% increase on 2014.
The company will be recruiting more computer scientists and software developers at its 12 research and development centres across Europe to work on the website, mobile apps, voice recognition technology and cloud services.
