The chief executive, Andy Jassy, who took over from Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, in July, said the company planned to take on more workers in multiple locations worldwide to drive rapid growth at the firm.

The bulk of the positions will be created in the US, where the firm plans to create 40,000 roles. About 2,500 will be created in the UK, with the remainder in India, Germany and Japan.

Amazon said it would hire the new UK staff for its offices in London and Manchester, as well as its “tech hubs” in Cambridge and Edinburgh. Against a backdrop of soaring demand for online shopping and nationwide staff shortages, the firm also plans to hire more staff across its network of UK fulfilment centres.

In May Amazon said it planned to recruit about 10,000 people in the UK, including at four new warehouses and offices in London, Manchester, Edinburgh and Cambridge. That took its total workforce to about 55,000. Last month Amazon delayed the date when it expected staff to return to the office to January for an initial three days a week,

Details of the announcement were made in Jassy’s first press interview since he took over from Bezos. He told the Reuters news agency that the firm needed more staff to keep up with demand in retail, cloud computing and advertising, among other businesses. The company’s plan to launch satellites into orbit to widen broadband access, known as Project Kuiper, would also require more staff, he said.

The recruitment drive will be part of the company’s careers day, due to be held on 15 September. The new hires would represent a 20% increase in Amazon’s tech and corporate staff, who number about 275,000 globally, the company said.

Earlier this year the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, delayed plans to introduce an online sales tax that would have hit the likes of Amazon and aimed to help bricks and mortar retailers narrow the growing gulf with internet retailers.