Amazon relocates staff to UK and Germany

Amazon.com says it will relocate around 240 staff from Holland to Britain and Germany.

The online retailer's pan-European customer service centre in The Hague is moving to existing centres in Slough in the UK and Regensburg in Germany.

The company says employees in The Hague will be offered the chance to relocate to either the UK or Germany.

Amazon.com has not disclosed the likely costs of the relocations.

Steve Frazier, managing director of Amazon.co.uk, says the decision was based on the price of the company's property in The Hague.

He tells Ananova: "The only thing about The Hague we don't want is the property. The people we like, and we would like to have them join us in Slough and Regensburg."

Frazier adds that staff who feel they cannot relocate will be offered a severance package.

It is estimated that around 100 posts will be moved to Slough in Berkshire, with some being taken up by people recruited locally.

Frazier describes the Slough operation as a very productive facility and stresses that the service to customers will not be affected. The relocation will take place over the next two months.

Late last month, Amazon.com announced it was cutting 1,300 jobs or 15% of its workforce in the US.