wages

With end of financial year sales winding down, I can finally look at online stores again without fearing the loss of all of my money. Of course, in global news Amazon has managed to put my own finances in perspective, pledging to invest around $54 million dollars into its operations in the UK. Now I feel poor without even having to spend a dime, thanks Bezos.

Reuters reports, the online shopping giant has just announced a commitment to invest $54 billion USD into its operations in Britain. The spend will take place over the next three years, and includes opening two new fulfilment centres which are set to open in 2027. This is in addition to the already planned centres around the country that are expected to open in the next two years.

The money will also go to opening more delivery stations across the United Kingdom, as well as upgrades to the existing buildings in operation. This includes an expansion to the corporate headquarters in London as well as some redevelopment works on other existing locations. It also includes funds going to the company’s cloud computing arm, as well as salaries for employees, but not to any Steam competitor storefronts.

Amazon is presenting this as a mass creation of jobs within the UK. Currently, the corporation employs around 75,000 people in the UK, and boasts that the opening of new locations will only add to this. For example, the planned The Hull and Northampton sites are set to create 2,000 new jobs, each. The company is already a top-ten private sector employer in the UK, and this could move it further up the rankings.

The UK government is taking the investment from Amazon as a big thumbs up to its current economic strategy. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Amazon’s plans represented “a massive vote of confidence in the UK as the best place to do business.”

For UK consumers hopefully this means they’ll have access to more stock and faster deliveries once this infrastructure is in place. With how hard PC parts can be nowadays, maybe this will help a few folks pick up a new graphics card.

The jobs also seem like a nice addition, especially for all those who dreamed of working in an Amazon factory one day. Having a giant ecommerce platform go all in on your tiny island sounds fairly intimidating, but if anyone can handle a rich foreign power coming in and making huge investments into their way of life, it has to be the UK.

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Yesterday, ZeniMax Workers United-CWA, the union made up of more than 300 quality assurance workers at Microsoft via its subsidiary ZeniMax Media, reached a tentative contract agreement with Microsoft. The union was formed back in 2022, and has been bargaining with Microsoft in the intervening years since. Last month, the union was preparing to potentially strike against Microsoft, but now it seems like this may be avoided.

If fully agreed to, the contract will bring in “substantial across-the-board wage increases as well as new minimum salaries for workers”, according to a press release from the CWA. On top of that, there would be protections against arbitrary dismissal, grievance procedures, and a “crediting policy that clearly acknowledges the QA workers’ contributions to the video games they help create.” The press release notes that the agreement would also include an agreement made in 2023 in relation to how AI is used in the workplace.

To be clear, this contract isn’t set in stone just yet. Explanation meetings need to be held for members over the coming weeks, and according to the CWA a ratification vote should be completed by June 20th. If it goes through, it will be a huge win for the workers, and should set a big precedent for game workers employed at a Microsoft-owned studio.

Earlier this month, a union made up of almost 200 Overwatch devs was also formed alongside the CWA, called the Overwatch Gamemakers Guild. Microsoft have already recognised this union as well. If things continue to go well for ZeniMax Workers United-CWA, perhaps we’ll see wins at other unions further down the line. I for one have my fingers deeply tied for such results.

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Amazon announces three-year $54 billion investment into warehouse facilities, infrastucture, and wages throughout Britain

ZeniMax QA workers have reached a tentative contract agreement with Microsoft, paving the way for better wages and more