Amazon Boosts Upskilling Opportunities for Hourly Employees by Partnering with More Than 140 Universities and Colleges to Fully Fund Tuition
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) announced today that it is further expanding the career advancement opportunities it offers its 750,000 hourly employees in the U.S. by partnering with more than 140 national and local universities to provide fully-funded college tuition. The announcement is part of the company’s ongoing enhancements to Career Choice—an Amazon upskilling program designed to help frontline employees grow their skills for career success at Amazon or elsewhere.
Today’s announcement brings into the program dozens of local colleges and universities and four new national nonprofit education providers, including Southern New Hampshire University, Colorado State University–Global, Western Governors University, and National University. Amazon is also partnering with GEDWorks and Smart Horizons to provide high school completion and GED preparation, Voxy EnGen and goFLUENT to provide English language proficiency training, and Outlier to provide college preparation courses—all for free.
“As a new Amazon employee, I’m excited to join the Career Choice program,” said Timothy Burdue, an employee at Amazon’s fulfillment center in Memphis, Tennessee. “I’m so glad they have updated the Career Choice eligibility requirement. Now, this gives me an opportunity to better my future and learn the skills I need to open my own business and advance my career.”
“The expansion of Amazon’s Career Choice program and the partnerships being forged with a wide range of colleges and universities is great news for nontraditional learners seeking new paths to career success,” said Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education. “Higher education is our nation’s most powerful engine of social and economic mobility, and this initiative will both expand access to postsecondary education and increase the number of learners who succeed in completing their degrees.”
These new partnerships are part of Amazon’s continued investment in its Career Choice program, which now offers fully-funded college tuition, allows employees to participate every year they work at Amazon, and gives them eligibility after only 90 days of employment. Through Career Choice, employees can pursue a Bachelor’s degree, earn industry certifications leading to in-demand jobs, and build skills through English language proficiency, and high school completion programs.
With Career Choice, Amazon works to make it easy for employees to advance their education—even building classrooms on-site in many of its buildings. Employees can take classes online, in-person at a local campus, or on-site in one of the more than 110 Career Choice classrooms located in fulfillment centers in 37 states. Since launching in 2012, Career Choice has helped provide education for more than 50,000 employees. As of this announcement, Amazon’s Career Choice program works with more than 180 education providers across the U.S., which along with colleges and universities includes partners providing industry certifications, English language proficiency, and high school completion programs. Career Choice is one of nine free skills training and education programs that Amazon offers to its employees as part of its Upskilling 2025 pledge.
“We’re committed to empowering our employees with easy access to the education and training they need to grow their careers, whether that’s with us or elsewhere,” said Alicia Boler Davis, Senior Vice President of Global Customer Fulfillment. “We’re thrilled today to be adding more education partners to our Career Choice program, which we hope will give our team access to the educational paths that fit their passions. Whether someone is looking to build their English proficiency skills, prepare for GED testing, or earn their Bachelor’s degree, we’re working to meet our employees wherever they are on their educational journey.”
Career training is just one of the industry-leading benefits that Amazon offers to its team. In addition, Amazon pays employees an average starting wage of $18 per hour, which is more than double the federal minimum wage, and provides comprehensive health benefits, paid time off, up to 20 weeks of fully paid parental leave, and additional benefits for employees and their families.
To learn more about Career Choice, visit https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/workplace/career-choice.
To learn more about Amazon’s $1.2 billion investment to upskill 300,000 employees in the next four years, visit http://aboutamazon.com/upskilling2025.
Amazon jobs are available in hundreds of cities and towns across America. Interested candidates can see the regions with open positions at https://hiring.amazon.com/.
About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Amazon strives to be Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company, Earth’s Best Employer, and Earth’s Safest Place to Work. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Career Choice, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, Alexa, Just Walk Out technology, Amazon Studios, and The Climate Pledge are some of the things pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.
