Amazon Is Spending $700 Million to Teach Its Workers How to Code

[Tsing]

Jeff Bezos has realized that his workers have more potential than just packing orders. Amazon announced today it would be spending $700 million for training programs that would ready its workforce for more advanced careers.

These include Amazon Technical Academy, which prepares non-technical employees for software engineering jobs, and Associate2Tech, which trains fulfillment center associates for technical work regardless of their IT experience.

Programs will help Amazonians from all backgrounds access training to move into highly skilled technical and non-technical roles across the company’s corporate offices, tech hubs, fulfillment centers, retail stores, and transportation network, or pursue career paths outside of Amazon.

Based on a review of its workforce and analysis of U.S. hiring, Amazon’s fastest growing highly skilled jobs over the last five years include data mapping specialist, data scientist, solutions architect and business analyst, as well as logistics coordinator, process improvement manager and transportation specialist within our customer fulfillment network.

 

[Peter_Brosdahl]

On one hand I think it's great those workers can gain a great skill. Self taught basic/pascal/assembly/some machine in my early teens and then picked up an assortment of 'scripts' in college a few years back. On the other hand this seems like the realization of my expectations in the late 80's that coding would become a minimum wage job in the near future. I think I was only off by maybe 20 or so years if this plays out like I think it will.

In either I case I'm happy that he's realized that paying to train your workers could save $$$ and potentially make even more profits. Amazon had a pretty stellar rising in the last couple of decades and it's seemed to hit a plateau recently but this could make a difference.

 

[alxlwson]

Be the man installing the robot, not the man being replaced by the robot.