Amazon to Hire 2,000 in U.K. for Latest Technology Ventures

(Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc. is set to hire more than 2,000 workers in the U.K., including engineers, software developers and data scientists, to develop its latest technology ventures.

The Seattle-based tech giant's U.K. workforce will total almost 30,000 people by the end of the year, and will include cloud and machine learning experts, corporate roles and fulfillment and delivery workers, the company said Wednesday in a statement. Of the new jobs, 170 workers will be based at Amazon's development centers in Cambridge, Edinburgh and London, which specialize in technologies such as the voice-recognition tool Alexa and drone-delivery service Prime Air, among other projects.

Amazon unveiled its drone technology in 2013 and made its first customer delivery as part of a private trial in December 2016 in Cambridge. The company says it can deliver small packages, including tech gadgets, dog biscuits and football boots, to customers within 30 minutes or less. The new hires will also be assisting teams working to develop Amazon Video and Amazon Web Services.

“We are delighted to be able continue to invest and grow our U.K. business,” Doug Gurr, head of Amazon's U.K. operations, said in a statement. “The U.K. is a fantastic hub for global talent and the exciting, innovative work that takes place here benefits Amazon's customers around the world.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Ellen Milligan in London at emilligan11@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Eric Pfanner at epfanner1@bloomberg.net, Molly Schuetz, Andrew Pollack

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