Chicago missed out on the much-ballyhooed HQ2, but Amazon hasn’t given up on the Windy City. The Seattle-based firm plans to expand its Chicago Tech Hub, including the creationg of 400 new tech jobs in fields including cloud computing, advertising and business development. To accommodate this job creation, Amazon will expand its downtown office by more than 70,000 square feet, allowing the company to double its tech workforce in the city.
The Chicago Amazon office, located at 227 W. Monroe Street, opened in 2016. Chicago-based Amazon teams currently build and support products and services for Amazon Web Services (AWS) and serve the tech giant’s advertising and transportation and operations units.
“We’re excited to create more opportunity in Chicago—a city with terrific talent and a culture of innovation,” said Geoff Nyheim, director central U.S. AWS sales. “We look forward to doubling our teams in the Windy City, contributing to its diverse economy and hiring local talent to fill exciting roles across Amazon.”
Though Chicago lost out on the HQ2 sweepstakes, other technology firms have flocked to or doubled down on the city. This summer, Google announced plans to expand in Fulton Market to up to 1 million square feet. Cisco Systems’ Chicago footprint will grow by nearly 40 percent when they move into the Post Office, which pales compared to the 450,000 square feet that Uber will take in the redeveloping building. Additionally, Salesforce will take naming rights on the last project in the Wolf Point Development with plans to grow its local workforce to 2,400 over the next five years.
“Chicago is a global hub with an unmatched workforce—the ideal incubator for Amazon to attract the talent needed to fuel its continued growth,” said Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot. “Today’s announcement, along with tomorrow’s Career Day, represents Amazon’s commitment to Chicago and the diverse and innovative talent found here.”
Amazon’s Chicago Tech Hub is one of 18 across North American, which together employ more than 20,000 people. Together with its customer fulfillment and retail facilities, Amazon has created more than 11,000 full-time jobs in Illinois and invested over $4.4 billion in the state since 2010, including infrastructure and compensation to its employees.
Job seekers interested in learning more about Amazon’s new positions in Chicago and across Illinois can attend the Amazon career day event on September 17th at Vertiport Chicago.