Amazon opens new R&D center in Bucharest, to create 650 new jobs

Amazon and Amazon Web Services (AWS) inaugurated its new HQ and research and development facility in Bucharest, creating 650 new jobs in the technology and corporate fields. The new R&D facility in the Romanian capital will work on several technologies, including for home assistant Alexa and for the AWS infrastructure.

The e-commerce giant already has 1,000 employees in Romania and has invested over EUR 100 million in the past 13 years.

The Bucharest office is located in the northern part of the city and covers over 13,000 sqm on five floors. It includes a new engineering center and one for technology development, including for the testing and language solutions development for Alexa.

“The AWS team in Bucharest will work for the technologies of Elastic Cloud Computing (EC2), developing the operating system and the hypervisor,” said Chris Schlaeger, the AWS software development head.

Amazon Web Services, the cloud computing division that hosts companies like Netflix, Airbnb and the CIA, reported a 49 percent hike in sales in the first quarter to USD 5.44 billion and a profit of USD 1.4 billion. ”We will use internet the way we use water and electricity today”, says Schlaeger, thus explaining the hike of AWS sales.

The Romanian team will work closely with the teams from Dresden, Germany, and Seattle, USA, in developing the cloud business all over the world.

The other part of the team will work in developing Amazon Alexa, the digital personal assistant that can do a lot of things in a smart home. The smart home is already on the market with many devices that can be linked to a single system of control. And while for everybody the smart home is just a choice, for people with disabilities it may be a huge step toward independence. It is the place where technology can really become helpful and useful.

Alexa is not yet available in Romanian and there are no specific declaration of when we might expect it but since Amazon is looking for language specialist it is clear that there will be new languages added to the digital assistant.

”We are very happy to inaugurate our new headquarters and the Center for Development and Technology in Bucharest. Investments in Romania continue and we look forward to attracting the most brilliant minds in Bucharest from abroad and abroad”, saya Lucian Vornicu, managing director of Amazon Romania.

”I congratulate the company’s representatives for this initiative and am delighted that Amazon creates 650 more highly qualified jobs in Bucharest. Romania boasts talented IT specialists in Bucharest, particularly in the areas of technology research and development, and the new investment reconfirms the opportunities for innovative technology companies in the capital”, said Hans Klemm, US Ambassador to Romania.

None of the officials made statements about opening an Amazon online shop for Romania so he customers will still buy from Amazon Germany.

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