Amazon’s cloud computing unit, Amazon Web Services (AWS) is slated to open a new hub in Spain, an endeavor that will infuse around $2.60 billion dollars into the country’s national economy. and create at least 1,300 new employment opportunities for its people.
In a statement issued by Prasad Kalyanaraman, AWS’ vice-president for infrastructure services, last November 16th, the new hub is Amazon’s way of delivering on its promise to build new world-class facilities in different nations as a way to help their customers.
Spanish customers, in particular, are now in a position to achieve and enjoy the highest possible standards in terms of availability, resilience, and cloud security.
The said investment will be delivered in several tranches throughout a ten-year period and is expected to augment Spain’s gross domestic product by around $1.8 billion.
Capitalizing on a Sunshine Industry
The development and eventual operation of the facility in Spain marks the creation of Amazon’s eight cloud computing hub in the region and also shows how far the industry has come in the short span of two years.
Between 2020 and 2021 – the height of the spread of COVID-19 throughout the world, companies and freelancers found themselves shifting from brick and mortar office work to a virtual workplace online. Indeed, cloud computing – an umbrella term that includes data storage, software as a service (SaaS) features, and even business functions – have been instrumental in making the shift easier for everyone the world over.
Today, thanks to cloud-deployed measures, an increasing number of people now go online for work, study, socialization, and entertainment, all of which entail an increasing demand for cloud computing services.
A Bleak Irony
But while the creation of a new AWS hub in Spain may be seen as a boon for the Spanish people, the news from AWS’ parent company isn’t so good.
AWS’ announcement regarding the creation of its Spanish hub was made around the same time the New York Times revealed that Amazon itself is set to ax around 10,000 employees throughout its global network.
While no Amazon executives have come forward to confirm this, it may be the largest employee layoff in Amazon’s nearly three-decade long history. The Times report stated that the layoffs would affect those in the company’s devices, retail, and human resource divisions.
However, given how Amazon reported that it boasted of a 1.54-million strong workforce as of September 2022, the number of layoffs may be seen as a drop in the bucket.
