Amazon has announced plans to invest more than €10 billion (£8.65bn) in robotics and automation across its European fulfilment network, as it seeks to improve productivity, modernise operations and support future growth.
The announcement was made during Amazon’s Delivering the Future event at its LCY3 distribution centre in Dartford.
The investment will support the deployment of a range of robotics technologies across Europe, including Amazon’s latest autonomous systems.
Among them is STARK, a collaborative robotic tote-handling system. Developed in Barcelona, Spain, the system will be expanded to 15 sites across Europe with deployment starting in the first half of 2027.
The company also unveiled its next generation Proteus robot, which is currently being piloted in labs and is due to be deployed in Europe during the first half of 2027. The original version of the autonomous mobile robot is used at 25 fulfilment hubs in the US, operating in the dock areas to transport carts weighing up to 400kg.
“With this new system, we’ll be able to deploy these autonomous systems anywhere material needs to be moved with our operations, whether it’s inbound to outbound,” said Tye Brady, chief technologist, Amazon Robotics.
Leveraging advances in AI, the next generation Proteus is also designed to understand natural language and move items.
Amazon also intends to deploy Vulcan, its first robot with a sense of touch, in Europe next year.
“We’re deploying technologies to support employees and improve how work gets done, and we’re investing in the long-term innovations that will define the future of delivery,” said Brady.
Workforce investment as jobs to grow by 25,000
As part of its investment, Amazon has committed to growing its European fulfilment centre workforce by 25,000 over the coming years.
“Since introducing robots in our operations, we’ve hired hundreds of thousands of employees to work in our facilities, and we’ve also created many new job categories worldwide. These skilled technical roles highlight how new technology, AI-powered robotics, sorting technologies, autonomous mobile robots, can benefit employees and prepare them for the work environments of the future,” added Brady.
Amazon said it is continuing to invest in workforce development, pledging US$1bn for employee upskilling through its Career Choice programme. More than 300,000 employees have already participated in Career Choice globally, including 3,000 in the UK, with programmes designed to support technical and career progression skills.
“We couldn’t find enough skilled people for the roles we need, so we made a decision: we’re going to develop them ourselves,” said John Boumphrey, country manager, Amazon UK & Ireland.
Boumphrey also announced that Amazon UK will more than quadruple its supported internship programme helping to get more than a thousand young people into work across more than 40 sites.
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