As part of a plan to increase its workforce to meet growing demand in online shopping, ecommerce giant Amazon is bringing more tech jobs to North Texas and other cities around the country.
The company announced plans to create 3,500 new tech and corporate positions through expansions of its Tech Hubs is Dallas, Denver, Detroit, New York, Phoenix and San Diego. And the roles will range from support roles at Amazon’s various businesses like AWS and Alexa to jobs in data science, software engineering and cloud architecture.
“People from all walks of life come to Amazon to develop their careers–from recent graduates looking for a place to turn their ideas into high-impact products, to veterans accessing new jobs in cloud computing thanks to our upskilling programs," said Beth Galetti, senior vice president, human resources at Amazon, in a statement.
As part of the move, Amazon plans to add more than 100,000 square-feet to its Tech Hub near the Galleria in North Dallas to help support the creation of 600 new jobs in the region.
Outside of the West Coast, Texas has one of the largest groups of Amazon employees. The company currently has about 43,000 workers in the Lone Star State, a majority of which are part of its fulfillment center and warehouse staff. Across the Metroplex, Amazon owns or leases millions of square feet of warehouse space and its new planned fulfillment center in Forney is set to be one of the largest in the area.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Amazon has been on a hiring spree as it looks to provide the quick delivery service to customers amid rising demand during the pandemic, which has caused many to avoid the physical store locations they may have once frequented. In mid-March, the company announced plans to 100,000 new warehouse and delivery workers across the U.S., which more than half, or about 5,900 of those coming to Texas.
However, during the pandemic, the company has come under criticism related to safety and working conditions, which have resulted in strikes and walkouts at some of its facilities in other states.
While the company is looking at external hires as well, some of the new positions in Dallas and elsewhere are expected to be filled internally through Amazon’s Upskilling 2025 initiative, a $700 million program launched last year that helps support current employees with the training and skills they need to move into higher skill and pay roles at the company.
“These 3,500 new jobs will be in cities across the country with strong and diverse talent pools. We look forward to helping these communities grow their emerging tech workforce,” Galetti said.
