Last week, US retail giant Amazon announced it would open its first African office in South Africa, making a real estate investment of more than R4 billion ($280 million). The headquarters will be located on 70,000 square meters (17.3 acres) of land on the outskirts of the city centre.
The construction project is expected to be rolled out in stages, with construction expected to take place over a period of three to five years. The project is expected to create up to 19,000 indirect and induced jobs.
Amazon's history in South Africa dates back to 2004, with a customer service department in operation since 2010.
Over the past decade, Amazon has also expanded its customer service centers in South Africa. In 2020, Amazon announced it would hire an additional 3,000 people in South Africa, nearly doubling its local staff to 7,000 and provide 24-hour support to customers in North America and Europe.
Amazon has also increased local listings in recent years. In 2019, there were only 50 jobs posted on Amazon Web Services (AWS) in South Africa. In 2021, this increased to approximately 118 jobs in his web services division, with an additional 38 jobs added in customer service, corporate development, human resources, and Kindle content.
Amazon's South Africa Career Portal
At the time of publication, Amazon's South Africa career portal has 156 job openings, most of which are based full-time in Cape Town.
Approximately 80% of job opportunities are in AWS operations, with the remainder spread across customer service, Kindle programs, human resources, business development, and student programs.
AWS operations positions require at least a bachelor's degree in information science, information technology, engineering science, computer science, or other related field, or equivalent experience in a technical role.
Amazon customer service roles are entry-level positions and applicants must have a qualification certificate (NQF Level 4), minimum service industry experience, a reliable internet connection at home, and strong communication skills. You are required to be present. Most of these jobs are called Virtual Customer Service (VCS) positions and you can apply from anywhere in South Africa.
Amazon also offers several internship programs for students or recent graduates in computer science, computer engineering, or related fields.
Amazon, which has 200 million paid Prime members and more than 300 million customers worldwide, serves more than 200 countries and territories, but its e-commerce services are not available in Africa. Do the African headquarters announcement and increased job openings signal that Amazon may reconsider its e-commerce operations in Africa?
