When Amazon announced it was going to build a second headquarters, it was a year-long PR campaign that inspired endless speculation and anticipation, with hundreds of cities narrowed down to 20 hopefuls, and eventually, the letdown that not one city but two were picked to host scaled-down Amazon offices.
Apple (AAPL) is having none of that. At midnight California time, the company announced it will be building a new $1 billion campus in Austin, Texas, as well as new sites in Seattle, San Diego and Culver City, Calif., and will expand its operations in Pittsburgh, New York and Boulder, Colo., over the next three years.
“Apple is proud to bring new investment, jobs and opportunity to cities across the United States and to significantly deepen our quarter-century partnership with the city and people of Austin,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said in the company’s statement. “Talent, creativity and tomorrow’s breakthrough ideas aren’t limited by region or zip code, and, with this new expansion, we’re redoubling our commitment to cultivating the high-tech sector and workforce nationwide.”
The company says it added 6,000 jobs to its U.S. workforce in 2018 and now employs 90,000 people across all 50 states. It says it’s on track to create 20,000 jobs in the U.S. by 2023. The company plans to invest $10 billion in U.S. data centers over the next five years, including $4.5 billion this year and next.
With 6,200 people, Austin already represents the largest population of Apple employees outside of Cupertino. Apple’s new Austin campus will be less than a mile from its existing facilities and will initially accommodate 5,000 additional employees in engineering, R&D, operations, finance, sales, and customer support, with the capacity to grow to 15,000. Apple ultimately expects to become the largest private employer in Austin.
“Apple has been a vital part of the Austin community for a quarter century, and we are thrilled that they are deepening their investment in our people and the city we love,” Austin Mayor Steve Adler said in the company’s statement. “Apple and Austin share a creative spark and a commitment to getting big things done. We share their commitment to diversity and inclusion. We’re excited they are bringing more middle-skilled jobs to the area. And we’re particularly gratified by their commitment to providing a great place to work for a large and growing number of America’s veterans.”
Apple also plans to expand to over 1,000 employees in Seattle, San Diego, and Culver City and is adding hundreds of new jobs in Pittsburgh, New York, Boulder, Boston and Portland over the next three years. Apple’s Miami office is projected to double in size.
Sure, a company can hype up its operations management and turn what are basically logistics decisions into a real-life reality show, but in just presenting its final decision to the public, Apple is proving it is the Beyonce of tech companies.