How Amazon supports diversity and gender equality, 365 days a year

According to the World Economic Forum’s 2021 Global Gender Gap Report, at the current pace it will take 135.6 years globally and 52.1 years in Western Europe to close gender gaps.

Amazon is a major jobs creator and now employs more than 200,000 people in good quality permanent roles across Europe. The size and the scale of our activities come with large responsibilities towards our employees, local communities and future generations. We are committed to a culture that is inclusive because it is integral to people doing their best work and is essential to what we can achieve as a company.

From the Amazon employees serving customers each day, to the individuals working for suppliers and other partners as part of the global retail supply chain, Amazon has a longstanding commitment to gender equity. We see progress in many areas, but recognize more needs to be done. Creating lasting change requires each of us as individuals to double down on our efforts to tackle anything that disadvantages women in the workplace, so everyone can thrive. These stories from women show how we can foster gender equality, 365 days a year.

Recruitment, mentoring and management are key to making sure all positions – from team leaders to coders and engineers – are filled with a range of people who reflect the diversity of our communities. Each one of us can contribute to “Break the Bias”, in our private, professional or academic spheres, even the biases we are not aware of. Unconscious bias training available to all Amazon managers will help as we seek to create the right culture and opportunities for women to reach their full potential.

“I am deeply convinced that creating awareness will bring more diversity. As a manager, I have benefited from training on how to break unconscious biases in recruiting or people development.”
Anne-Laure Luquet, team leader in charge of Amazon Vendor Services in France

"It is important to have courage for your own career path, to believe in yourself and to develop your own skills. At Amazon, there are many opportunities to achieve your professional dream. No matter what you did before, where you come from or what gender you are.”
Dina, site leader at Amazon’s Fulfillment Center in Bad Hersfeld in Germany

“I work three days a week and I get to spend the four other days with my family. Finding a balance between work, personal life and taking care of the household may not always be easy for women. That’s also why I enjoy Amazon's approach, because the company offers various opportunities to accommodate us with flexible working.”
Kristýna, Trainer in Czech Republic

“More and more women hold managerial positions, run their businesses and successfully combine their professional and private life. I am proud that Amazon creates such possibilities, providing all employees with equal opportunities regardless of gender and helping us to balance our work and family lives with various work shifts, parental leave programs and more.”
Monika, Associate in Poland

Amazon also provides women around the globe with entrepreneurial opportunities across retail, delivery and transportation, books and publishing, and technology. And more and more women entrepreneurs also start their delivery business with Amazon.

“When I entered Amazon I never imagined that this could be the first step to entrepreneurship. A year ago, I created “Click & Home Logistics”, my own delivery company, which now employs 77 people.”
Alejandra, CEO of the delivery company Click & Home in Spain

“I would say to any woman that was thinking about a role as a Heavy Goods Vehicle driver to just go for it. Every day is different. I think that a lot of women are put off by thinking it’s a male-dominated industry, which it is, but that’s why us women have to show that we can do it just as well, if not better, and start making it more of an industry for both men and women”.
Sam, Heavy Goods Vehicles driver working for Amazon Freight Partners in the UK

For many years, through programs like “GetIT” or “Amazon Future Engineer”, Amazon has been working to awareness on STEM disciplines in schools, with great attention to young women.

“Working on Alexa has allowed me to go beyond language skills. Every day I can benchmark myself on product skills, customer experience, artificial intelligence or machine learning.”
Chiara, Language Engineer for Alexa and Ambassador, teaching young students on scientific topics in Italy

Our diverse perspectives come from many sources, including gender, race, age, national origin, sexual orientation, culture, education, as well as professional and life experience. Being a great employer means enabling each individual – whoever they are – to reach their full potential. And we always look for ways to scale our impact as we grow. More information about our work environment and commitment to diversity can be found here.

Amazon offers many positions in Europe. Candidates interested in job offers at Amazon can visit www.amazon.jobs/en/.