Knottingley military veteran celebrated by Amazon centre as part of Armed Forces Day

Benjamin Hume, who works in Knottingley as a senior reliability maintenance engineering (RME) technician, joined the company in 2021 after a career in the military and has been talking about his experience ahead of this year’s Armed Forces Day celebrations.

Before joining the company, Benjamin served as a lead in an aviation unit maintaining the aviation units for the American army.

Seeking greater job stability, he left the British Army and took on a civilian role in the US for the American armed forces.

Then, wanting a more settled life, he joined the Amazon family.

“I was attracted to Amazon as it’s one of the biggest global brand names and could offer me the career security I was hoping for when I left the forces,” he said.

“Engineering at Amazon is very diverse, with any sort of mechanical or electrical engineering job you could want on offer. This makes it a versatile and adaptable career.

" The knowledge I had from working in aviation in the army directly correlated to the knowledge I needed for the role, so it seemed like a good fit.”

Benjamin highlighted how other skills he learned in the Army help with his new role.

“Amazon’s leadership principles are similar to the core values of the Army. This structure, along with the structured pathways for development, are very comforting as you progress in your career.”

Part of the community Benjamin enjoys comes from the Warriors affinity group, Amazon’s dedicated support network for ex-military employees.

“I was introduced to the Warriors affinity group on my first day at Amazon and met people who had been through the same experiences as me,” he said.

"This instantly made me feel like I was part of a community.”

Many members of the military community join Amazon through the company’s military programme, which offers members of the military community the opportunity to pursue a wide range new career paths.

Last year over 350 veterans, reservist and military spouses joined in more than 35 different job roles including health and safety specialists, engineers and team leaders.

These new employees joined more than 2,500 already employed at Amazon since it commenced its military programme in 2011.

Emma Morgan, Programme Manager, Global Military Affairs at Amazon, said: “We believe everyone should have the opportunity to learn and develop and we are passionate about extending these opportunities to veterans, military spouses and reservists.

"People from the military community add tremendous value to our workforce and it’s fantastic to celebrate them during this year’s Armed Forces Day events.”

For any ex-servicemen or women thinking about joining Amazon, Benjamin said: “Don’t be daunted.

"People are often scared when they leave the forces and aren’t sure if there are any civilian careers that can match up to the security of their military experience.

"Now that I’ve found Amazon, I know that there are, but if you’re struggling to believe that that’s true, speak to someone – don’t struggle alone.”