John Boumphrey, Amazon's country manager for the UK, has called for an end to the practice of blaming young people for unemployment, asserting that the education system is failing to adequately prepare them for the workforce. "We have to stop blaming young people," Boumphrey told the BBC, adding that the current educational framework is not "producing young people who are ready for work."
Boumphrey's comments come as official figures indicate a slight rise in the UK's unemployment rate, which stood at 5% in the three months to March, up from 4.9% in the preceding period. He highlighted that Amazon, which employs 75,000 individuals in the UK, recruits half of its workforce directly from education or unemployment, according to Boumphrey. Despite the broader economic context, Boumphrey stated that Amazon faces a challenge in finding enough workers possessing the specific skills the company requires.
"I think too often you read about young people that somehow they lack motivation, they lack resilience, they lack the will to develop skills," Boumphrey remarked, contrasting this with Amazon's own experience. He suggested that the issue is systemic rather than a deficit in the youth's drive. "It's not a motivation problem, it's a system problem, and that requires a system response," he told the BBC.
To address this, Boumphrey advocated for mandatory work experience for individuals over 16, describing it as a "transformative" element in equipping young people with practical skills. He believes these experiences teach valuable lessons in teamwork, communication, and problem-solving that are not always covered in standard curricula but are highly sought after by employers. "If you get a T-level student, they come in for a week, they understand the value of teamwork, of communication and problem solving," he explained during an interview with the BBC's Big Boss Interview podcast.
The UK's job market is currently described as weak, with young people disproportionately affected by reductions in hospitality roles and graduate training programs. However, Boumphrey noted that Amazon experiences the inverse problem: a shortage of skilled labor. The company operates 100 sites across the UK, including 30 warehouses.
Boumphrey proposed a collaborative approach involving businesses, local governments, and further education colleges to identify and address regional skills gaps. "I think you need businesses to come together with local governments and further education colleges, and you need that to happen on a regional basis so that you can understand what the skills gaps are," he said.
He also touched upon the introduction of robots in Amazon's warehouses, noting that initial concerns about job displacement were unfounded. "Actually, the reverse happened…we ended up employing more people," he stated. "Mechatronics engineers, people who can actually maintain the robots, people who are technicians…they're not roles that exist. We can't find enough people to fill those roles," Boumphrey added.
Regarding the company's tax contributions in the UK, Boumphrey defended Amazon's record, stating that the company contributed over £5.8 billion in the past year. He emphasized that Amazon's contribution extends beyond tax payments to the creation of 75,000 jobs. "Of course we pay all the tax we're meant to pay, but when you think about our contribution, it isn't just the amount of tax we pay, it's also the 75,000 jobs we create," he said. Amazon accounts for 30% of all online sales in the UK, and recently surpassed Walmart to become the world's largest company by annual sales.
