Dallas and Austin were supposed to be among the top 20 finalists for Amazon’s second headquarters, HQ2, but ultimately the company chose northern Virginia and New York City. Still, Texas seems to be a favorite locale for the company. Amazon has created around 22,000 jobs across the state, and just announced it’s adding 800 more.
Sebastian Herrera, business and technology reporter for the Austin American-Statesman, says those 22,000 jobs consist of corporate and warehouse workers, as well as jobs at Amazon subsidiaries like Whole Foods.
“It’s really just a network that’s formed all throughout the state … and that’s [why] you see that by now, they have tens of thousands of them here,” Herrera says.
Amazon’s plans to establish one half of HQ2 in New York City fell through in February. As a result, the company decided to move the jobs planned for that site to 17 of their existing North American locations, including Austin and Dallas. But Herrera says the 800 new jobs are in addition to that.
“This was a completely separate project that was in the works,” Herrera says. “As far as the additional jobs that could come from the fallout in New York, that’s still a possibility.”
Herrera says some cities began to question Amazon’s requests for large tax incentives during its search for an HQ2 location last year. But now, Texas cities are attracting Amazon without offering any incentives.
“These 800 jobs that are coming pretty much show that a city like Austin has a lot to offer,” Herrera says.
Written by Sara Schleede.
