Amazon announced plans Tuesday to hire 3,500 corporate employees in tech hubs across the country, including Denver, Dallas, San Diego, Phoenix, Detroit, and New York City.
While many of the company's tech employees are still working remotely, the move marks a commitment to growing the footprint of office space despite the coronavirus pandemic.
"Right now, we're seeing really significant demand for technical innovation," said Ardine Williams, VP of workforce development at Amazon. "What better way to give back to the communities in which we're a part than to create jobs in those tech hubs?"
The e-commerce giant has hired 175,000 workers since the beginning of the pandemic, many of whom are working in warehouses or on the frontline to deliver packages.
This latest bout of hiring, however, will focus on highly-skilled tech workers who will help build up the company's technology infrastructure.
"As we move to more remote work, the demands on IT infrastructure, on applications, on technical solutions has increased as well," Williams said.
Williams added that tapping into new talent pools is another goal of the hiring push.
"It's still very competitive in the tech market," she said. "There was a shortage of software development engineers, solution architects, technical programming editors before the pandemic. Many of those skills are still in very high demand, and we are continuing to work hard to recruit that talent."
Out of the 3,500 new jobs, 2,000 will be based in New York City at the former Lord & Taylor flagship department store in Manhattan.
The company is also investing $1.4 billion in 900,000 square feet of new office space across the six cities — though 650,000 square feet will be in New York City alone.
"As the second-largest employer in the United States, we believe that we have a role to play in creating good jobs," Williams said.
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Spain's government has fined Airbnb 64 million euros or $75 million for advertising unlicensed tourist rentals. The consumer rights ministry announced the fine on Monday. The ministry stated that many listings lacked proper license numbers or included incorrect information. The move is part of Spain's ongoing efforts to regulate short-term rental companies amid a housing affordability crisis especially in popular urban areas. The ministry ordered Airbnb in May to remove around 65,000 listings for similar violations. The government's consumer rights minister emphasized the impact on families struggling with housing. Airbnb said it plans to challenge the fine in court.
Roomba maker iRobot has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, but says that it doesn’t expect any disruptions to devices as the more than 30-year-old company is taken private under a restructuring process. iRobot said that it is being acquired by Picea through a court-supervised process. Picea is the company's primary contract manufacturer. The Bedford, Massachusetts-based anticipates completing the prepackaged chapter 11 process by February.
Serbia’s prosecutor for organized crime has charged a government minister and three others with abuse of position and falsifying of documents related to a luxury real estate project linked to U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The charges came on Monday. The investigation centers on a controversy over a a bombed-out military complex in central Belgrade that was a protected cultural heritage zone but that is facing redevelopment as a luxury compound by a company linked to Kushner. The $500 million proposal to build a high-rise hotel, offices and shops at the site has met fierce opposition from experts at home and abroad. Selakovic and others allegedly illegally lifted the protection status for the site by falsifying documentation.
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A rare magnum of Dom Pérignon Vintage 1961 champagne that was specially produced for the 1981 wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana has failed to sell during an auction. Danish auction house Bruun Rasmussen handled the bidding Thursday. The auction's house website lists the bottle as not sold. It was expected to fetch up to around $93,000. It is one of 12 bottles made to celebrate the royal wedding. Little was revealed about the seller. The auction house says the bids did not receive the desired minimum price.
