(Image source from: Financialexpress.com)
Amazon has revealed one of its largest commitments to India, stating it plans to help generate 3.8 million jobs in the country by 2030, even while reducing jobs worldwide. The announcement was made at the Smbhav Summit in New Delhi, where the company also detailed its plans for significant investments in India over the next few years. "By 2030, we aim to create 3.8 million direct, indirect, induced, and seasonal jobs," Amazon mentioned in its most recent blog. Amazon also stated it will invest more than $35 billion, approximately Rs 3.14 lakh crore, into its Indian operations by 2030. This amount comes on top of the nearly $40 billion already invested since it entered the Indian market in 2010. This news came shortly after Microsoft pledged to invest Rs 1.5 lakh crore in India, reinforcing the idea that international tech companies are optimistic about the country's future.
The company mentioned that the new investment will focus on three main areas - digitization driven by AI, increasing Indian exports, and creating more job opportunities. Amazon described this as a continuation of its long-standing collaboration with India's digital and manufacturing sectors. Over the years, it has established large fulfillment centers, transportation systems, digital payment methods, data centers, and cloud services, all of which have contributed to moving more small businesses online. An economic impact study by Keystone Strategy, released at the summit, indicated that Amazon supported around 2.8 million jobs in various sectors in India during 2024. The company also noted its efforts have helped digitalize over 12 million small businesses and facilitated around $20 billion in total e-commerce exports from India. The current goal is to create another one million job opportunities by 2030. These positions will come from Amazon's growing fulfillment and delivery systems as well as sectors related to packaging, manufacturing, transportation, and services. The company affirmed that these jobs will become available as its ecosystem expands and more sellers and partners engage with the platform.
Amit Agarwal, Amazon's senior vice president for emerging markets, stated that the company's growth in India aligns with the country's development objectives. “We are grateful to have played a role in India’s digital transformation journey over the last 15 years,” he expressed, emphasizing that Amazon aims to "make AI accessible for millions of Indians" and increase its total e-commerce exports to $80 billion by 2030. Exports are a critical component of this strategy. Amazon Global Selling, which recently celebrated ten years in India, has already surpassed $20 billion in supported exports. To boost this further, Amazon launched a new initiative called “Accelerate Exports,” designed to connect sellers with manufacturing partners and assist factories in selling internationally. The company will hold onboarding events in over ten manufacturing centers, including Tirupur, Kanpur, and Surat, and has partnered with the Apparel Export Promotion Council of India to enhance this effort.
AI will play a key role in Amazon’s strategy in India. By the year 2030, the company plans to provide AI tools to 15 million small businesses and offer AI education to four million students in government schools through support for their curriculum, training for teachers, and technology tours. Notably, this initiative is happening at a time when Amazon is cutting back on its global workforce. In October of this year, the company stated it would let go of around 14,000 employees as part of a larger restructuring effort. In a blog entry, Beth Galetti, the senior vice president of people experience and technology, mentioned that the company must streamline its operations as it shifts its investments toward generative AI and other future goals.
