A pre-registration accuracy checking pharmacy technician and a health and safety manager from Peterborough have shared their career stories for Learning at Work Week 2024 to celebrate the career progress they’ve made thanks to the lifelong learning programmes at Amazon.

Learning at Work Week is an annual programme run by the charity Campaign for Learning. The charity works with organisations around the UK to create activities and fun challenges in the workplace to help employees learn and grow.

This year’s theme, Learning power, explores how lifelong and continual learning gives people power to change, grow and achieve individual, team and organisational goals.

Petra Pridavkova, who works at a pharmacy in Peterborough, and Orestas Stankus, who works at the Amazon fulfilment centre in the city, have used Amazon’s development and training opportunities to shape their professional careers.

One of the programmes the pair took part in at Amazon is Amazon Career Choice. The programme, which has been running at Amazon for the past decade, pre-pays up to 95% of tuition and fees for courses in high-demand fields, up to £8,000 over four years, regardless of whether the skills are relevant to a career at Amazon.

Courses available include accountancy, HGV driving and software development, and are designed to help employees build careers at Amazon or elsewhere. It means that eligible employees are given the opportunity to gain the skills and qualifications needed to follow their career aspirations.

Petra, who used the programme to help secure her role as a pre-registration accuracy checking pharmacy technician, has shared her story to encourage others to take their career to the next level using the Amazon Career Choice programme.

Petra, who is based in Peterborough, has worked in a pharmacy in the city for over a year and used the career development opportunities at her previous job at Amazon to secure her dream role.

Petra details her career journey, from leaving school in Slovakia to joining Amazon in Peterborough, where she worked for five years:

“I finished my exams in Slovakia at 19 years old. I didn’t have much work experience coming to the UK because I just packed my suitcase and left. When I came to England, I couldn’t speak English because I had studied German in school.”

“I found a job on a vegetable farm and spent a few years picking vegetables there. I then worked for a while in a smaller company, where I picked up some English, and then I joined Amazon.”

During Petra’s time at Amazon in Peterborough, she completed four courses with Peterborough-based Pitman Training through the Amazon Career Choice programme – HR Administrator, Office Manager Diploma, Executive Personal Assistant Diploma and Medical Administrator.

Petra continued, “When I finished my last course, the team at Pitman encouraged me to reach out to a medical centre looking for volunteering work, to gain some experience. I was really scared but I did it, and three days later while I was shopping, the medical centre called and offered me a job.”

“I was able to take this job at the end of 2020 and continue working at Amazon for a few months on the side,” Petra added. “I really began to enjoy working in a medical context, so I left Amazon in 2021. I worked at a GP surgery for two years, first as a receptionist and then as a doctor’s assistant. I then moved to issue prescriptions before the owner of the surgery bought a pharmacy next to us. He gave me the opportunity to complete a course to become a pharmacy technician, and now I’m one year into that. If I’d never decided to go for Amazon Career Choice, I never would have had these opportunities.”

“Once I finish my training to become a pharmacy technician, I hope to register with the General Pharmaceutical Council. I’ll stay where I am to gain a bit more experience and then maybe work as a locum. This would mean I could work less hours to spend more time with my son – all because of Amazon Career Choice and the opportunities that came from my studies.”

Petra has some advice for anyone considering furthering their careers through learning and development programmes:

“I think programmes like Career Choice are great, especially for people like me who come from different backgrounds and aren’t as confident in speaking English. They may want to do something new with their life and I think it’s great that programmes like this provided by employers encourage people to grow in confidence and believe in themselves more.”

Orestas Stankus also used the Amazon Career Choice programme to help progress his career.

Orestas is a health and safety manager at Amazon. He joined the Amazon fulfilment centre in Peterborough in a temporary role in 2011 and was made permanent shortly afterwards.

Speaking on why he chose to apply to work at Amazon, Orestas said:

“When I moved to the UK from Lithuania, I had heard some good things about working in Amazon. I liked the thought of working in a big company that would provide some security, so I applied. It’s a very dynamic place to work and there’s never a dull moment.”

Orestas completed the National General Certificate in Occupational Health and Safety (NEBOSH) through Amazon Career Choice. He added:

“I think Career Choice is awesome. It allows employees to pursue their dream career path when they may not have been able to because of their own limited resources. I was able to complete this course because of Amazon and it’s really spearheaded my career in safety. I’m now a manager with my own team, and Career Choice made the whole process so much easier at a time where I was younger, and money was much tighter.”

Orestas has some advice for anyone considering furthering their careers through learning and development programmes.

“Don’t wait. Use the resources that are available to you now, like Career Choice or Amazon Apprenticeships, because in a few years you’ll regret that you didn’t start earlier!”

Amazon also provides opportunities to improve existing skills or learn new ones through internal career progression opportunities such as apprenticeships, transferring to a different department and promotion to a managerial role.

Amazon Peterborough Site Leader, Tomislav Batinic, added: “We are proud of Petra’s success through the Amazon Career Choice programme. Career development is at the core of our culture at Amazon, where lifelong learning is promoted at every turn. Many of our team members have taken part in Career Choice and are now fulfilling their potential on Amazon teams all over the UK, Ireland and further afield. Others have gone on to successful careers elsewhere, and we are proud to have supported them in their professional development by giving them extra tools for success in their new roles. We look forward to offering employees even more choices in the future as Amazon Career Choice evolves and grows.”

Amazon employees receive competitive pay and comprehensive benefits. Pay starts at a minimum of £13 per hour in Peterborough and employees are offered a comprehensive benefits package, including private medical insurance, life assurance, income protection and an employee discount as well as a company pension plan.

Amazon has been named as a ‘Top Employer UK 2024’ by the Top Employer Institute, 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 second consecutive year.

In 2023, Amazon ranked in second place on LinkedIn’s Top Companies list — an annual list that identifies the most sought-after places to work 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.