Amazon to build $5 billion second North American Headquarter

Amazon plans to build a second headquarters in North America. More than $5 billion for construction and is expected to hire up to 50,000 new people. According to a press release issued by the company today

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Today launched a request for proposal from local and state governments as it looks to pin down a site for the project. The new facility, announced as Amazon HQ2.

Amazon is supportive to the new project’s broader impact on the local area. It will help to create tens of thousands of additional jobs and tens of billions of dollars in additional investment. The company has produced an eight-page RFP document, and submissions will be open from today until October 19, 2017. The final site selection disclosed sometime in 2018.

The new flagship space tentatively referred as HQ2.  Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos stressed that not considered as satellite office. We expect HQ2 to be a full equal to our Seattle headquarters, said Bezos. Amazon HQ2 will bring billions of dollars in up-front and ongoing investments, and tens of thousands of high-paying jobs.

U.S. technology companies Microsoft and Amazon are major hubs. But clearly outgrowing its home, which spread across 33 buildings in the city.

Amazon to increase its headcount by 55 percent

A few months ago, Amazon posted 50,000 warehouse jobs in the U.S. alone. But the launch of a brand new HQ is a significant step. As the company looks to shift its center of gravity away from its native Seattle. As Amazon requests interest from cities around the country, it is quick to point out its Seattle credentials to bidding parties.

Amazon recently revealed plans to increase its headcount by 55 percent to 280,000 in the U.S. over 18 months. Yesterday the company announced that its first fulfillment center in New York State will be landing in Staten Island. In terms of its criteria for selecting a location, Amazon said that it’s targeting “stable and business-friendly” metropolitan areas with a population of at least one million people. It will consider both urban and suburban sites with the potential to attract and retain strong technical talent.

Moreover, the company claims that its investments in the area between 2010 and 2016 added an additional $38 billion to the city’s economy. It said every dollar invested by the company in Seattle generated an additional 1.4 dollars for the city’s economy overall.

A key point worth noting is that company is looking to appeal to talent with this secondary base, not just new hires but also existing staff who may wish to relocate. Amazon’s impact on the local Seattle economy known to have driven housing prices up, and traffic problems are now an issue, too, causing some resentment in the area. Amazon said.

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The company expects that employees who are currently working in HQ1 can choose to continue working there, or they could have an opportunity to move if they would prefer to be located in HQ2.