Amazon says it will create 800 tech jobs in Austin
Amazon announced Thursday that it will create 800 tech jobs at its Austin, Texas, location, shortly after Apple planned to build its own $1 billion campus there.
The world’s largest online retailer has already added more than 22,000 full-time jobs in Texas, it said in a news release, ultimately investing more than $7 billion in the state, including infrastructure and employees compensation. It currently has about 6,000 workers in Austin.
“In the last four years, we have created more than a 1,000 jobs in Austin,” Terry Leeper, general manager of Amazon’s Austin Tech Hub, said in a statement. “With a strong pool of technical talent in Austin and a dynamic quality of life, we are excited to continue to expand and create more opportunity in this vibrant city.”
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMZN | AMAZON.COM INC. | 173.67 | -2.92 | -1.65% |
Austin serves as one of Amazon’s 17 North American tech hubs, a network of development centers alongside its Seattle and Northern Virginia headquarters. The city was one of the 20 finalists for the coveted HQ2, but ultimately lost to Northern Virginia and New York (which Amazon withdrew from in February, following a flood of local opposition for the billions it received in incentives).
The announcement, however, is unrelated to Amazon’s pullout from New York: Leeper told the Austin American-Statesman the growth is part of an effort that was set in motion years ago.
Austin did not provide Amazon with any financial incentives to open the new facility, according to the Statesman.
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Amazon told the Statesman it plans to hire the employees over the next several years to fill a 145,000-square-foot space that it leased. The new office will open in 2020.
