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It's pretty clear it hasn't done Amazon's reputation any favours. And there's no reason to think government officials won't go above and beyond in offering ince

It's pretty clear it hasn't done Amazon's reputation any favours. And there's no reason to think government officials won't go above and beyond in offering incentives behind closed doors.

plandis 8y ago
Why do you think that? I think Amazon will get what they want - mainly a city to capitulate to their demands. I’ve talked to people in Pittsburgh and Atlanta and the majority wanted Amazon. I don’t think most people realize outside of tech circles that Amazon will mostly bring people in rather than hiring locally and how much they have strained the infrastructure in Seattle.
- Chaebixi 8y ago
  > I don’t think most people realize outside of tech circles that Amazon will mostly bring people in rather than hiring locally Why do you say that? Amazon seems to recruit pretty heavily around me, which is far, far from Seattle and SV.
  - gowld 8y ago
    Recruit to work where?
    - Chaebixi 8y ago
      Seattle mostly. If they built HQ2 here, I'd expect that recruiting would switch to be for jobs at HQ2 (and get a lot more successful, since no relocation required).
- felixgallo 8y ago
  I can only speak from my experience, but as an Amazonian working in a non-Seattle office, we hired essentially completely locally. We have a few transfers, but it's much more of a pain in the ass to get people moved than it is to find talent in the area. Hiring in LA, by the way.
  - DigitalBison 8y ago
    Seconded, as another Amazonian working in a remote office. The Seattle HQ absolutely hires folks from all over, but many of the remote sites tend to hire more locally. In fact, many of the remote sites exist precisely because of the local labor market (e.g. NYC hiring people out of finance, advertising, etc). Although given the planned scale for HQ2, I would imagine hiring practices for HQ2 to be closer to the "bring in people from everywhere" model rather than the "hire [almost] exclusively locally" model.
- Steltek 8y ago
  > how much they have strained the infrastructure in Seattle You could rephrase this as "How much Seattle's entrenched interests have crippled the city's growth". How many towns and cities would love to have the problem of too many jobs?
  - gowld 8y ago
    It's not "too many jobs"; it's Washington state voters voting down income tax and transit initiatives that Seattle sorely needs.
    - briandear 8y ago
      So cut other spending. There is a 100% chance that there is money being mispent somewhere else. When a family has a budget, they can’t go over that budget: they cut expenses and prioritize. Governments are unwilling to do that because they somehow feel that every single expenditure is “vital.”
    - blang 8y ago
      It's not so much that voters are voting down income tax as progressive income taxes are illegal in the state of washington[1]. Though Seattle has tried[2]. You are right though that in some cases the voters have voted down income tax initiatives [3]. [1] https://www.washingtonpolicy.org/publications/detail/local-income-taxes-are-illegal-in-washington-state https://www.washingtonpolicy.org/publications/detail/local-i... [2] https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/11/22/25581262/superior-court-judge-rules-against-seattle-income-tax-appeal-on-the-way https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/11/22/25581262/superio... [3] http://www.theolympian.com/news/politics-government/election/article113515583.html http://www.theolympian.com/news/politics-government/election...
  - vkou 8y ago
    If Seattle didn't get a single new tech job opening from any of the big-4 tech corps in the next five years (Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft), the city would be fine. It would be more then fine. There is no shortage of economic opportunity in it. Expanding their offices puts costs on existing city residents. It's all well and good that tens of thousands of new units to house these workers are being built, but those units also require extra infrastructure funding. Amazon wants this cost to be 100% borne by Seattle city residents. Unsurprisingly, Seattle city residents aren't interesting in bearing it (On top of the %8 YoY rent increases many of them are seeing.) Amazon earns what, half a million dollars a year for every new engineer that they hire? Whereas the city gets stuck with a $XY,000 infrastructure bill for supporting that engineer's apartment - money that ends up being squeezed out of existing residents. I do work for one of the big-four in Seattle, and I absolutely believe that they, or their employees should pay for these infrastructure improvements - not my hairdresser. I have no right to move into a neighborhood with the expectation that existing residents pay to make room for me.
- empath75 8y ago
  I suspect that they won't. They really want to be in the DC area, and neither DC or MD or VA are going to bend over backwards for them.
Reedx 8y ago
I'm not sure it hurts Amazon so much as the reputation of the cities and mayors who were bending over backwards and trying to land a deal at all costs. And if nothing else wasted the city's time and money with various desperate stunts.

It's pretty clear it hasn't done Amazon's reputation any favours. And there's no reason to think government officials won't go above and beyond in offering incentives behind closed doors.

plandis 8y ago

Why do you think that? I think Amazon will get what they want - mainly a city to capitulate to their demands. I’ve talked to people in Pittsburgh and Atlanta and the majority wanted Amazon. I don’t think most people realize outside of tech circles that Amazon will mostly bring people in rather than hiring locally and how much they have strained the infrastructure in Seattle.

Chaebixi 8y ago
> I don’t think most people realize outside of tech circles that Amazon will mostly bring people in rather than hiring locally Why do you say that? Amazon seems to recruit pretty heavily around me, which is far, far from Seattle and SV.
- gowld 8y ago
  Recruit to work where?
  - Chaebixi 8y ago
    Seattle mostly. If they built HQ2 here, I'd expect that recruiting would switch to be for jobs at HQ2 (and get a lot more successful, since no relocation required).
felixgallo 8y ago
I can only speak from my experience, but as an Amazonian working in a non-Seattle office, we hired essentially completely locally. We have a few transfers, but it's much more of a pain in the ass to get people moved than it is to find talent in the area. Hiring in LA, by the way.
- DigitalBison 8y ago
  Seconded, as another Amazonian working in a remote office. The Seattle HQ absolutely hires folks from all over, but many of the remote sites tend to hire more locally. In fact, many of the remote sites exist precisely because of the local labor market (e.g. NYC hiring people out of finance, advertising, etc). Although given the planned scale for HQ2, I would imagine hiring practices for HQ2 to be closer to the "bring in people from everywhere" model rather than the "hire [almost] exclusively locally" model.
Steltek 8y ago
> how much they have strained the infrastructure in Seattle You could rephrase this as "How much Seattle's entrenched interests have crippled the city's growth". How many towns and cities would love to have the problem of too many jobs?
- gowld 8y ago
  It's not "too many jobs"; it's Washington state voters voting down income tax and transit initiatives that Seattle sorely needs.
  - briandear 8y ago
    So cut other spending. There is a 100% chance that there is money being mispent somewhere else. When a family has a budget, they can’t go over that budget: they cut expenses and prioritize. Governments are unwilling to do that because they somehow feel that every single expenditure is “vital.”
  - blang 8y ago
    It's not so much that voters are voting down income tax as progressive income taxes are illegal in the state of washington[1]. Though Seattle has tried[2]. You are right though that in some cases the voters have voted down income tax initiatives [3]. [1] https://www.washingtonpolicy.org/publications/detail/local-income-taxes-are-illegal-in-washington-state https://www.washingtonpolicy.org/publications/detail/local-i... [2] https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/11/22/25581262/superior-court-judge-rules-against-seattle-income-tax-appeal-on-the-way https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/11/22/25581262/superio... [3] http://www.theolympian.com/news/politics-government/election/article113515583.html http://www.theolympian.com/news/politics-government/election...
- vkou 8y ago
  If Seattle didn't get a single new tech job opening from any of the big-4 tech corps in the next five years (Amazon, Facebook, Google, Microsoft), the city would be fine. It would be more then fine. There is no shortage of economic opportunity in it. Expanding their offices puts costs on existing city residents. It's all well and good that tens of thousands of new units to house these workers are being built, but those units also require extra infrastructure funding. Amazon wants this cost to be 100% borne by Seattle city residents. Unsurprisingly, Seattle city residents aren't interesting in bearing it (On top of the %8 YoY rent increases many of them are seeing.) Amazon earns what, half a million dollars a year for every new engineer that they hire? Whereas the city gets stuck with a $XY,000 infrastructure bill for supporting that engineer's apartment - money that ends up being squeezed out of existing residents. I do work for one of the big-four in Seattle, and I absolutely believe that they, or their employees should pay for these infrastructure improvements - not my hairdresser. I have no right to move into a neighborhood with the expectation that existing residents pay to make room for me.
empath75 8y ago
I suspect that they won't. They really want to be in the DC area, and neither DC or MD or VA are going to bend over backwards for them.

Reedx 8y ago

I'm not sure it hurts Amazon so much as the reputation of the cities and mayors who were bending over backwards and trying to land a deal at all costs. And if nothing else wasted the city's time and money with various desperate stunts.