Amazon plans to split HQ2 in two places

About 1,800 people working in the advertising, fashion and publishing industries are already working for Amazon in New York, and about 2,500 business and technical employees work in northern Virginia and in Washington.

Amazon reduced the list to 20 cities in January and, in recent weeks, smaller communities appeared to be disappearing. For example, although Denver did the initial cut, Colorado governor John Hickenlooper said last month: "Would not they rather have their second big hub on the East Coast?"

Amazon announced plans to create a second headquarters in September 2017, claiming that the company's growth was greater than that it could engage in its hometown, Seattle. The company announced that it would invest more than $ 5 billion over two decades in a second seat, under which it would hire up to 50,000 full-time employees and earn more than $ 100,000 annually. on average.

HQ2 would be "on par with our current Seattle campus," the company said. If Amazon launches with two new sites, it is unclear whether the company would qualify these two headquarters sites or whether they would constitute large satellite offices.

Choosing multiple sites would allow him to tap into two pools of talented workmanship and perhaps avoid being blamed for all the housing and traffic problems related to the domination of the city. only one sector. This could also give the company more weight in negotiating tax incentives, experts said.

"Even though the most obvious reasons seem to be attracting more technology workers, the incentive benefits of government and government could also be helpful," said Jed Kolko, chief economist at Indeed, the site of Jobs online. With a strong presence in two cities, local governments "may feel compelled to increase the incentives they offer to Amazon, and the surprise is another round of news for the headquarters process." Amazon, "he said.

QG2 research has sent states and cities into a frenzied bidding war. Some have called on McKinsey & Company and other external consultants to help them with their offers, investing heavily in the courtesy of Amazon and its promise to create 50,000 jobs. According to Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First, responsible for monitoring corporate grants, even half of this amount would be one of the largest transactions. "These are very big numbers," he said.