Amazon mulls closure of 3 UK warehouses, job cuts likely to impact 1200 workers

London: Amazon (AMZN.O) is planning to shut three warehouses in Britain in a move that is expected to impact 1,200 jobs. Workers, however, will be given the chance to take transfers to other units, the online retail giant said on Tuesday.

The company said it has initiated a consultation to close three older British warehouses this year located in Hemel Hampstead, Doncaster and Gourock, sites. Together, the warehouses employ 1,200 people in one of Amazon’s biggest markets outside the United States.

Those employees likely to be hit will be given the chance to move to other jobs internally, the retail giant said and those from the first two sites can exercise the option of moving to other warehouses nearby. Amazon operates nearly 30 large warehouses across the United Kingdom.

The company has also planned to open two new warehouses in central and north east England over the next three years, in a move that will create 2,500 new jobs.

The Seattle-based online retailing giant said earlier in January it wants to shed 18,000 roles globally, bracing for slower growth as consumers and businesses cut spending as a result of high inflation.

The planned closure of the British warehouses is not part of the wider restructuring by the company which mainly covers non-warehouse roles in e-commerce and human resources.

In a separate incident, Amazon’s UK business has also recently faced demands for better pay from its warehouse staff, about 300 of whom are planning to go on strike on January 25.

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