How two Amazon managers earned their degrees on the job
Pictured left to right are John Aitken and Gary Burnett at Amazon EDI4, Dunfermline.
©UNP Andy Buchanan
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When John Aiken and Gary Burnett first crossed paths at Amazon’s Dunfermline fulfilment centre, they had more in common than either might have expected.
Both had arrived at Amazon via unconventional routes. Both had quietly wondered whether they were capable of completing a degree-level qualification while holding down demanding full-time roles. And both, it turned out, were more than capable.
Having recently completed the Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship (CMDA) – John through Glasgow Caledonian University and Gary through the University of Exeter – the pair are now among a growing number of Amazon employees demonstrating that higher education doesn’t have to mean stepping away from the workplace to achieve it.
John’s route to Amazon was a significant career change. Before joining the company in August 2021, he had spent years working in entertainment on cruise ships – a world away from the logistics industry.
“Coming to Amazon was very much a career change,” he says. “Obviously 2020 came around, COVID hit, and it was time to find a new career trajectory.”
The shift proved more natural than it might have seemed on paper. John draws parallels between his former life and his current role – particularly around managing people across diverse cultures and backgrounds, something he encountered daily at sea and now navigates as General Manager’s Assistant in the DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) and stakeholder management space.
When the Chartered Management Degree Apprenticeship was launched in Scotland, John was part of the very first cohort.
He completed his dissertation in August 2025, choosing to evaluate Amazon’s community and social impact in Scotland – a topic he knew inside out. The paper was subsequently shared internally with Amazon’s Community Impact team for use with their own apprentices.
“What I really liked about it was the broad topics you were studying and being able to put them into practice literally the next day when you’re back on site,” he says. “It catapulted the visibility we have as CMDAs beyond the levels we’re currently sitting at.”
His advice to anyone considering the programme? “Jump in with both feet. It’s not something you just dip your toe into. You don’t know what you can do unless you try.”
Gary’s Amazon story began considerably earlier. He joined the company in 2012 as a temporary agency associate, fresh out of four years in the RAF, simply looking for work.
“When I joined Amazon, that’s exactly what I joined it for,” he admits. “It was supposed to be a stop-gap. I just needed a job.”
Twelve months later he was made permanent. Two years after that, he was a team lead. By 2020, he had stepped up into an area manager role – and for the first time, he started thinking seriously about his career trajectory. The problem was that a degree was a requirement for permanent promotion to level four area manager, and Gary had left school with only standard grades before joining the military.
Amazon’s solution was to offer him a pathway: first a Level 5 Operations Manager apprenticeship through the University of Exeter, and then a two-year fast-track CMDA programme at the same institution. The CMI accreditation was woven throughout both courses – a smoother, more integrated experience than John’s, though arriving at the same destination.
“I think 82% of people in management positions across all industries are accidental managers,” Gary says, referencing a CMI statistic that clearly resonated. “That’s exactly what I would have been. Now I’m fully trained and professionally accredited – and that gives me a level of confidence in my role.”
Balancing the programme with a full-time job and two young children at home – aged eight and four – was not without its challenges. But Gary credits a shared workplace mentor, who also happened to be his direct line manager for much of the programme, with helping him stay on track. He also leaned heavily on his cohort, forming a small group who would meet on weekends to work through assignments and support one another.
“Lean on your peers,” he urges. “Whether there was much academic value in those calls or not, pushing each other onward definitely helped. It was a problem we were all sharing together.”
Now 35, Gary is a living example that the CMDA is open to anyone willing to commit. “If I can do it – at my age, with a young family, in a full-time job – I think absolutely anybody could.”
Between them, John and Gary represent something broader than two personal success stories. They are the leading edge of a growing community at Amazon in Scotland – with around 30 others now following in their footsteps across first and third year cohorts – proving that professional development and operational excellence are not mutually exclusive.
Pay at Amazon starts from £13.95 or £14.96 per hour depending on location, equating to between £29,037 and £31,116 annually. Additionally, from day one, all employees are offered a comprehensive benefits package including private medical insurance, life assurance, income protection, and an employee discount. Together, these benefits are worth more than £700 annually, and employees can take advantage of a company pension plan.
Applications are now open for Amazon’s apprenticeship programme.
For more information, visit: www.amazonapprenticeships.co.uk
