Amazon is one of the largest companies in the world, and — predictably — it’s only going to get larger.
On Thursday, the tech giant announced that it’s on track to hire 15,000 additional employees in the Bellevue area over the next few years. Amazon currently lists over 700 open Bellevue jobs on its website.
Although the city of 144,000 isn’t that far from the company’s headquarters in Seattle, Amazon has been pushing to expand there. The tech giant is currently developing a 43-story skyscraper in the city's central business district known as Bellevue 600. This building will join the company’s other Bellevue sites, and help hold all of these employees. Construction for Bellevue 600 is expected to finish in 2024.
There are currently 2,000 Amazon employees based out of Bellevue. And while that’s an impressive amount on its own, hiring an additional 15,000 employees will increase that number eightfold.
Amazon employs about 798,000 full-time and part-time employees worldwide, according to a recent SEC filing.
Bellevue’s mayor, Lynne Robinson, had this to say about Amazon’s expansion plans:
“We welcome the news that Amazon is increasing its investment in Bellevue. These are 15,000 well-paid jobs coming to our city that will benefit local workers and the region. With the downtown area’s successful growth over the last several years, we’ve created a dynamic and thriving neighborhood, and one that’s attractive to businesses, workers and residents,” the mayor said in a statement.
“Accelerated growth does come with impacts and we hope to mitigate those by proactively working together as a community to address our residents' needs," Robinson continued. "We appreciate Amazon's eagerness to be a partner during this process and to take the role as an engaged Bellevue stakeholder.”
