A local delivery station manager who started his career as a website designer is hoping his story will inspire others to engage in lifelong learning during Learning at Work Week 2022 (16th-22nd May).

Bobby Clements from Rochester works at the Amazon delivery station in Barking, having risen through the ranks from his first role at Amazon as a temporary sortation associate.

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

The theme of Learning at Work Week 2022 is Learning Uncovered, and will focus on deepening society’s understanding, knowledge and engagement in lifelong and continual learning.

Bobby, who has worked for Amazon for eight years, has used the company’s development and training opportunities to progress and now works as a delivery station manager.

Bobby joined Amazon in 2014 as a temporary sortation associate during a period of seasonal recruitment. Having recently left a desk-job career as a website designer, he knew he wanted to find work in a fast paced, active environment, so he got a job at Amazon to try something new as he figured out a career plan.

Since joining Amazon, Bobby has been promoted four times and now holds a position as delivery station manager. Today, he is proud to say that he’s worked in five Amazon delivery stations across the UK, and he is currently responsible for leading a team of more than 50 employees at the company’s delivery station in Barking.

“Working at Amazon is never boring,” said Bobby. “Employees are given so many opportunities to continue learning, and it really excites me. I always tell people to take advantage of the open doors and get stuck in, because the more people you know, the more you know and the more help you can give.”

What’s Bobby’s favourite part of his role? “The opportunity to build a team culture”, he said. “I am privileged to play a direct role in the lives of my colleagues, helping them to grow both as leaders and as people. The mentorship programmes available at Amazon have been hugely beneficial for me as I’ve progressed in my career and taken on new responsibilities, so it’s important to me that I give back and support others as they develop. I want to create an environment that encourages people to ask questions, especially ‘why?’.”

Later this year, Bobby will be moving to a new role at Amazon, helping the company to organise the biggest logistical events of the year, including Prime Day and Black Friday. He hopes that this progression will open doors for him to one day lead this same team to success.

Amazon employees receive competitive pay and comprehensive benefits. Pay starts at a minimum of £10.00 or £11.10 per hour depending on location and employees are offered a comprehensive benefits package, including private medical insurance, life assurance, income protection and an employee discount – which combined are worth more than £700 annually – as well as a company pension plan.

Amazon offers employees Career Choice, an innovative programme which pre-pays 95% of tuition 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.

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

Amazon is investing £10 million over three years in training up to 5,000 employees in new skills to meet the UK’s future employment needs outside of Amazon. Amazon is also partnering with the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) and local businesses on the programme to identify regional skills shortages and focus training on local demand.