Amazon will take on 3,000 new employees on permanent contracts this year in Italy as part of its "Italy Plan" aimed at increasing its investments in the country, the e-commerce giant said on Monday. Amazon had 9,500 members of staff at the end of 2020 in over 50 locations, the group said in a statement. "The growth in the digital sector is an opportunity to relaunch the country and we want to give our contribution," Mariangela Marseglia, Amazon country manager for Italy and Spain said. It added that it planned to invest over 350 million euros ($425.74 million) in three new sites which will open in the autumn, in the northern regions of Lombardy, Piedmont and Emilia Romagna. ($1 = 0.8221 euros)