Amazon expands it distribution center in Italy

Amazon has expanded its distribution centre in Italy. In Castel San Giovanni, placed in the province of Piacenza, one of Europe’s most innovative distribution centers arises. It’s 70,000 square meters big and by opening this new distribution center there will be about 1,000 new jobs.

The new distribution centre is responsible for sorting and distributing the products of Amazon.it, as well as the storage and inventory of external vendors that operate on the Amazon platform. Amazon’s fulfillment center in Piacenza (25,000 square meters) was first opened in 2011 and gave jobs to 420 people. Now it reopens with a new distribution centre which is a lot bigger than the first one and will create more than 1,000 additional jobs. And that’s some positive news for a country that still suffers from the financial crisis as well as the unemployment rates.

Ecommerce growing with double digits in Italy
“This distribution center is the heart of the service we give to Amazon customers in Italy”, says Stefano Perego, regional director for Southern Europe. “It’s our only center in the country and we have shifted from 35,000 to 85,000 square meters.” An increase in size that goes hand in hand with the growth of ecommerce, Il Fatto Quotidiano writes. “Ecommerce is growing with double digits in Italy, and it allowed us to go from 50 employees back in 2011 to 400 today”, Perego says.

The new building is scheduled to open by the autumn. In less than three years after the opening of Amazon’s fulfillment center in Piacenza, the facility could accommodate up to a thousand new jobs as the company will be looking for additional recruitment during this summer. The outlook for 2016 is to reach a total of 2,000 new jobs being made available.

Controversy about Amazon
But not all that glitters is gold, as there is controversy in Italy about the high standards of work, the absence of any union representation and the fact Amazon pays it taxes in Luxembourg rather than in Italy. The mayor of Castel San Giovanni, Carlo Capelli, has mixed feelings about the whole Amazon situation. “When people ask me how I feel when I see graduates working as warehousemen, I say ‘bad’, because it tells us we failed as a country. But I have to say ‘well’, because at least we can assure him a salary.”