Peterborough IT technician reflects on his career development with Amazon following Learning at Work Week 2025
An IT technician from Peterborough shares his experience of developing his dream career with Amazon through the company’s lifelong learning programmes.
Last week was National Learning at Work Week, a programme run by charity Campaign for Learning. The charity works with organisations across the UK to arrange events, stimulate curiosity in the workplace and support organisational goals by engaging employees in continued learning.
This year’s theme, 'Get Connected', highlighted the social aspect of lifelong learning at work, with a focus on how collaboration between colleagues can support their learning and professional development through understanding and empathy.
Abbas Mehdi is an IT Technician at Amazon in Peterborough who has taken advantage of one of the company’s development programmes – Career Choice - to progress his career. The programme, which has been running at Amazon UK since 2012, supports participants by covering up to 95% of tuition and associated fees for courses in high-demand fields, with an available amount of up to £8,000 over four years, regardless of whether the participant proceeds to pursue a career at Amazon.
There are many options for progression via Career Choice, including associate degrees, bachelor’s degrees and certificates. Software development, English language classes, accountancy and HGV driving. The courses can help employees build careers at Amazon or elsewhere. This means eligible employees are given the opportunity to gain the skills and qualifications needed to follow their career aspirations, whatever they might be.
Originally from Pakistan, working at Amazon was Abbas’s first job after moving to the UK in 2016. He initially joined Amazon in Peterborough in an operations role but had a strong desire to develop his career into something more aligned with his interests.
Abbas studied Computer Science in Pakistan and then worked as a high school teacher for six years. When he joined Amazon, he wanted to go back to studying for a role in IT but wasn’t sure where to begin.
“I was teaching for quite a while, so I didn’t have much hands-on experience in IT. The development opportunities I found using Career Choice helped me to learn the practicalities of what was required for a job in IT. I really felt the course would provide me with the learning that was needed to get me back on track.”
Abbas has achieved two diplomas through Career Choice – Advanced IT and Network Support. After completing the courses in 2020, he secured an IT role with Amazon in Peterborough.
“At Amazon, there are so many things involved with an IT job. It’s very unpredictable, which I like, because then it’s challenging,” he said.
“From my first day, I knew I wanted to do more to help me get a job in IT, but I just didn’t have the resources to study. Then I found Career Choice. I’m so happy that I also got the opportunity to continue working at Amazon in Peterborough. We can move to different buildings, but I love this site and I’m lucky to have a role here. IT was my chosen career path, but I didn’t want to leave Amazon, so I would have done something else if it meant staying here. Thankfully I was able to follow my dreams of working in IT here because of Career Choice.”
When asked about his plans, Abbas spoke about his hopes for the future.
“At the moment there are so many changes going on – AI is kicking in, and our role is to support innovation and automation, so I want to keep learning about how we can embed those techniques into our roles,” he said.
“I think we should always try to learn something new, especially since Career Choice has so many different options. I’m very thankful for the opportunities that I’ve had at Amazon through the Career Choice programme and I am excited to continue learning.”
There are also many opportunities available at Amazon for employees to improve their existing skillset or discover new ones internally, by getting involved in apprenticeships, transferring departments or getting promoted to management positions.
Amazon employees receive competitive pay and comprehensive benefits. The minimum starting pay for frontline operations employees is between £13.50 and £14.50 p/h, depending on location. For those with 36 months service, this is £13.75 and £14.75p/h, depending on location.
Amazon has invested £550m in increased pay for operations employees across the UK since 2022, representing a 35% increase in the hourly rate in just two years. Additionally, from day one, all employees are offered a comprehensive benefits package including private medical insurance, life assurance, income protection, subsidized meals and an employee discount. Together, these benefits are worth more than £700 annually, and employees can take advantage of Amazon’s company pension plan.
Amazon has been named as a ‘Top Employer UK 2025’ by the Top Employer Institute, for the second year in a row, one of the world’s most prestigious certifications in the field of human resources management. This award recognises Amazon’s commitment to the development and well-being of its employees. In addition to the UK accolade, Amazon has also been certified as one of the Top Employers in Europe for a third consecutive year.
In 2025, Amazon ranked in second place on LinkedIn’s Top Companies list — an annual list that identifies the most sought-after large companies to work for and grow your career in the UK. Using data from LinkedIn’s 900 million members, LinkedIn’s Top Companies list is designed to help professionals identify the best companies to grow their careers.
To find out more about a career with Amazon, visit Amazon Jobs.