credit: Apple

Apple, Facebook & Google Also to Expand in CA, Austin

An AP story in The Seattle Times recently outlined explosive growth plans for major technology companies in and around the Seattle area, as well as in California and Austin. Apple, Facebook and Google all made announcements about expansion plans that will benefit the Northwest city. Most of the jobs will be in cloud computing, machine learning and AI technologies.

Recently, Apple announced an aggressive growth plan that will begin with four or more floors in downtown Seattle in the Two Union 56-story skyscraper. GeekWire cited anonymous sources that estimate Apple’s will increase its office space to 70,000 square feet by April.

Apple’s news release said it will hire 1,000 new employees for its $1 billion tech campus in Austin. The company is also expanding operations in San Diego and Culver City, CA.

In another sign of its Seattle expansion, an Apple machine learning recruiter wrote, “Our Seattle office is growing!! Machine Learning is our sole focus.” Apple recently had only 26 jobs posted on a help-wanted search site. Its 1,000 employee expansion will occur over the course of years, by 2022.

Not to be left out, Google announced plans to build a new campus near the South Lake Union area of Seattle, where it will employ about 4,000 people. Also, Facebook will add about 2,000 new jobs in the same area.

This is actual, measurable, taxable, job growth with salaries, and families looking to buy a house. Unlike many of the economic reports that ricocheted around the airwaves and print media at times that predicted an impact from business deals, additional jobs translate into a direct impact on a local economy, which the Seattle newspaper touted.

The cities previously listed can expect an uptick in the number of people with well-paid jobs, and the employee’s spending on real estate and in daily living will give the city’s economy a boost.

2017 CBRE chart

According to Recode.com, the companies’ plans are wide and deep for expansion outside of the regular tech cities, too. Other cites include New York City, Washington, D.C. and Chicago, though Silicon Valley still reigns supreme as the top area for tech business concentration.