“Christmas has come early to Dunfermline” after the town’s biggest employer announced plans to recruit more permanent staff.
Thomas Docherty, MP for the town, said that Amazon’s decision to allow temporary staff to take on permanent posts at its depot was great news for the area.
It was part of a major announcement made by the online retailer, with 800 jobs being created across the United Kingdom.
The company also announced that its new staff would be on permanent contracts and not controversial “zero-hours” terms.
Welcoming the announcement, Mr Docherty said: “I spoke to Amazon about 10 days ago about their plans for Dunfermline and pressed very hard on the matter of zero-hour contracts.
“The Labour Party has been campaigning very heavily against the principal of zero-hour contracts for some time. I visited Amazon earlier this year and it is a really impressive facility.
“Dunfermline is the online shopping capital of the UK and I hope that many of these jobs will be here. But if you excuse the cliche, Christmas has come early to Dunfermline.”
It remains unclear exactly how many of the new permanent positions will be in Fife, although it is expected to be a considerable number.
The announcement coincides with a change in shift patterns by the company, meaning that staff will work four-day 10-hour shifts instead of five-day eight-hour shifts.
Catherine McDermott, UK operations director at Amazon, said: “We are pleased to be creating 800 new permanent roles in our centres ahead of the Christmas period.
“Having recently reviewed and improved pay rates and overall compensation package, we are now moving to a four-day week, which will provide employees with more days of free time and the potential for savings in terms of time and money.”
Lesley Laird, Fife Council’s executive spokesperson for business, enterprise and economy, added: “There is a personal message here.
“Those people who have secured permanent jobs will be delighted and that is a real success story.”