Amazon unveils pay rise for tens of thousands of UK staff

The pureplay giant said the increase would lift minimum pay rates by 9.8% to between £13.50 and £14.50 an hour, depending on location. Staff with at least three years’ worth of service will receive a minimum of between £13.75 and £14.50 an hour.

Amazon staff will be eligible for the raise from September 29, and it will include delivery drivers and those employed in the retailer’s UK fulfilment centres.

The announcement comes after Amazon has dealt with a series of strikes from staff looking to unionise.

Amazon said it has now invested £550m in boosting staff pay since 2022, adding that employees also receive benefits such as subsidised meals and discounts.

A spokesperson said: “That’s why we are proud to announce that we are increasing our minimum starting pay for all frontline employees to the equivalent of more than £28,000 a year and we continue to offer industry-leading benefits from day one.”

However, GMB, the union which narrowly lost a statutory recognition ballot at Amazon’s warehouse in Coventry in June, has criticised the offer as “too little, too late”.

“Amazon’s reputation is in the gutter over its treatment of its own workers and now company bosses are trying to plaster over the facts,” said GMB organiser Rachel Fagan.

“Unsafe working conditions, low pay and excessive surveillance blight the lives of Amazon workers every single day.”