Amazon ramps up France operations with €15bn expansion and 7,000 jobs

The investment is Amazon's biggest in France so far. It will fund new logistics sites, develop cloud and AI services and strengthen the company's existing network, Amazon said in a statement on Tuesday.

Four new distribution centres are planned across northern, eastern and central France. Job creation will begin in 2026 with the opening of the first three sites.

New sites and jobs

The first wave will create 1,000 permanent jobs in Illiers-Combray, south-west of Paris, another 1,000 in the northern city of Beauvais and 3,000 near Lyon in eastern France.

A fourth distribution centre is due to open near the German border in Ensisheim, in eastern France, at the end of 2027, creating another 2,000 permanent jobs.

More than €30 billion euros has already been invested in France since 2010.

The investment would bring “faster deliveries, a wider choice and low prices accessible across France, as well as a reduced environmental footprint thanks to a local logistics network”, Amazon France chief executive Jean-Baptiste Thomas said.

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France expansion

Amazon said the investment would also directly benefit local areas and French businesses using Amazon's marketplace, technology, cloud and AI services.

“More than 7,000 permanent jobs will be created, and French companies that rely on our marketplace, our technologies and our cloud and AI solutions to grow will also benefit directly,” Thomas added.

Amazon was founded in 1994 and entered the French market in 2000.

France was the third country outside the United States where Amazon launched operations, after Germany and the United Kingdom.

The company has previously faced criticism in Europe over warehouse working conditions and anti-union practices.

More than 25,000 people now work for Amazon in France on permanent contracts across more than 35 sites, including logistics centres and offices.

(with newswires)