Our Upskilling 2025 programs

Written by Amazon Staff

In September 2021, Amazon committed $1.2 billion to provide 300,000 employees with access to education and skills training programs—including college tuition for front-line employees—through 2025 as part of Amazon’s Upskilling 2025 pledge.

Upskilling programs helps employees gain in-demand skill sets and propel them into new careers. The company-funded training programs offered through Upskilling 2025 support Amazon employees as they learn critical skills to move into in-demand, higher-paying technical or non-technical roles within Amazon and beyond.

Looking at job growth over the next decade, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics anticipates that some of the fastest growing job areas are increasingly in more skilled areas, including medical assistants, statisticians, software developers, nurse practitioners, and wind turbine service technicians. Through Upskilling 2025, Amazon is focused on creating pathways to careers in areas that will continue growing in years to come.

As part of Upskilling 2025, Amazon continues to launch new training opportunities and expand on existing programs for employees across the U.S., including:

Amazon Technical Academy

Amazon Technical Academy is a training and job-placement program that equips non-technical Amazon employees with the essential skills to transition into, and thrive in, software engineering careers.

Combining instructor-led, project-based learning with real-world application, graduates of the program master the most widely used software engineering practices and tools required to thrive in a career at Amazon. This tuition-free program was created by Amazon software engineers for Amazon employees who want to move into the field.

Read and watch "Skills today for tomorrow's jobs" to learn more about Amazon Technical Academy.
Amazon Technical Apprenticeship

Amazon Technical Apprenticeship is a program certified by the U.S. Department of Labor that offers paid and intensive classroom training along with apprenticeships with Amazon.

Providing a combination of immersive learning and on-the-job training, the Amazon Apprenticeship program has already created paths to technical jobs for hundreds of candidates working to break into technical professions including cloud support associate, data technician, and software development engineer.
AWS Grow Our Own Talent

AWS Grow Our Own Talent offers on-the-job training and job placement opportunities to Amazon employees and entry-level candidates with non-traditional backgrounds.

The training will help employees pursue roles to innovate within Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centers and safely deliver high-quality cloud computing services to customers. Participating employees are hired into roles such as data center technicians and data center engineering operations technicians, and complete in-person, on-the-job training for up to six months.
AWS Intelligence Initiative

AWS Intelligence Initiative is a program that develops operational talent to gain the technical skills and security clearance needed to work in Amazon Dedicated Cloud (ADC) regions.

The program allows participants to work on impactful technologies they are passionate about, while facilitating the expansion of ADC across the globe.
AWS Training and Certification

We're expanding AWS Training and Certification to close the gap in cloud skills gap within the industry.

Amazon employees have access to free classroom and digital training to build cloud knowledge, as well as discounted AWS Certification exams to validate cloud expertise. Cultivating these in-demand skills opens opportunities both within Amazon and at organizations around the world as demand for cloud talent continues to grow.
Career Choice

Career Choice is Amazon’s pre-paid tuition program for operations employees looking to further their education.

Amazon will pre-pay full college tuition at hundreds of education partners across the country. In addition to funding associate and bachelor’s degrees, Amazon’s Career Choice will also fund high school completion, GED’s, and ESL proficiency certifications. Since launching Career Choice in 2012, over 110,000 Amazon employees across 14 countries worldwide have received training for high-demand occupations including aircraft mechanics, computer-aided designers, commercial truck drivers, medical assistants, nurses, and more.
Machine Learning University (MLU)

MLU is an initiative that helps Amazon employees with a background in technology and coding gain skills in machine learning.

As machine learning plays an increasingly important role in customer innovation, MLU helps employees learn core skills to propel their career growth—skills that are often learned only in higher education. Divided into six-week modules, the program requires only half to one full day of participation a week. MLU is taught by more than 400 Amazon Machine Learning scientists who are passionate about furthering skills in the field. Originally launched as a small cohort, the program is on course to train thousands of employees.

Read "It's not magic. It's math." to learn more about MLU.
Mechatronics and Robotics Apprenticeship

The Mechatronics and Robotics Apprenticeship Program gives employees the opportunity to learn skills and technical knowledge needed to fulfill a technical maintenance role.

The program, which is registered with the U.S. Department of Labor, helps employees increase their wages up to nearly 40% at the end of the first phase. For apprentices who are selected for and complete the second phase, the average wage can increase by up to another 48%.
Surge2IT

Surge2IT is designed to help entry-level IT employees across Amazon’s operations network pursue careers in higher-paying technical roles through self-paced learning resources.

The course helps employees develop necessary skills to advance their career in the information technology field, including supporting the Amazon Robotics picking and stowing technology. Participants who move up at Amazon can make an additional $10,000 a year.
User Experience Design and Research (UXDR) Apprenticeship

The UXDR Apprenticeship program combines instructor-led training and real-world experience in a one-year program that offers employees the opportunity to learn and develop skills in research and design on teams across Amazon, including Prime Video, Alexa, AWS, and Amazon Fashion.

Graduates are ready for jobs that help improve the experience of Amazon customers, from making payments easier on Amazon sites to designing features that make devices more accessible.

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Our Upskilling 2025 programs

As part of Upskilling 2025, Amazon continues to launch new training opportunities and expand on existing programs for employees across the U.S., including:

As part of Upskilling 2025, Amazon continues to launch new training opportunities and expand on existing programs for employees across the U.S., including:

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