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Amazon, a fast-growing online commerce company based in Seattle, is currently looking for a suitable location for their second headquarters. They are planning to invest $5 billion on this project and create over 50,000 jobs. City officials across the US and Canada are all pitching in and trying to woo Amazon to build the headquarters in their city. Who wouldn't? Fifty thousand jobs and five billion dollars is a enormous amount of jobs and money for a city of any size. The city that ends up winning Amazon over will experience a huge economic boost over just a few years, and then continue to grow gradually after, no doubt.
It isn't just Amazon doing this. Apple and Google are expanding their headquarters and offices have been doing the same over the years right next to us in Silicon Valley. I think that technology companies have had great and substantial impacts on the communities around them for the most part. We can see how gentrification in San Francisco has become a huge problem and the cost of living has risen quite a lot over the past few decades. Even though Amazon's expansion will cause similar problems wherever they decide to build, I still think that it is for the better because the economy of the whole area is improving, giving hundreds of thousands of people new and better opportunities.
What are your opinions on this?
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6 comments:
While I do think the creation of jobs and the consequential economic boom and development that results ultimately improves a region, I think the issue of gentrification, as mentioned, is something that needs to be considered. In a way, I think that whenever a major company establishes their headquarters in a major city, only a very small number of people are truly positively impacted because of the fact that costs of living rise for everyone else. While more jobs may be created, local and state governments need to be considerate of how such big moves by companies impact members who are low-income or, sometimes, of the middle class. I'm all for development and creation of opportunities for people, but more attention needs to be paid to those that are indirectly impacted.
While I do agree with Kamille's point that the introduction of such a huge company like Amazon will likely have a backlash against low-income members and smaller businesses, I think that overall Amazon's expansion will have a net positive impact on whichever city it decides to plant base in. The sheer amount of jobs it will introduce and the overall prosperity of the company will undoubtedly boost the city's economy as a whole.
Like Kamille and Emma, I do see the many benefits that will result when Amazon expands its headquarters into another major city; the city, as a whole, will surely benefit in terms of its economy. However, as mentioned previously, the gentrification and rising cost of living are definitely issues to take into consideration -- I don’t believe that these can be avoided in the event that Amazon (or any other major company) expands its offices. Ultimately, I believe that Amazon’s expansion of its headquarters would bring more detrimental consequences for low-income residents than positive ones, while providing job opportunities for those in the tech industry. I don’t think that there’s an easy way to compromise either of these.
I agree that gentrification is a serious problem that needs attention. However, a large part of the money that Amazon is investing into their new headquarters is for construction and upkeep. These provide thousands of jobs for at least a few years for low-income workers. But yes, there does need to be some way for these workers to keep those jobs, and I think that Amazon's new headquarters will spur great growth in the city's jobs and overall economy.
One argument for the second company of Amazon includes that there will be more prosperity and more jobs for those in the city. Nevertheless, the downside includes that, as other comments mentioned, people with low-income may struggle with rising housing prices. Furthermore, the increase in jobs are in the tech industry, suggesting that there may be individuals who may not be interested or do not meet the qualifications for those jobs which dulls the positive effect of Amazon's new company. However, I do believe that in our nation, or more specifically the bay area, the tech industry is the hottest field for jobs and our society is becoming increasingly technologically advanced, suggesting that citizens will eventually take up more jobs because there is a growing interest in the field.
I think expanding the headquarters is a great idea. The mount of jobs and boost in economy will be fantastic for any town. But I do think this issue of gentrification is a key problem. There needs to be a way for people to keep their jobs. Overall though, I can see it being a great benefit.
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