Amazon to expand into Boston, adding 3K corporate employees

Amazon on Tuesday announced plans to add more than 3,000 additional corporate and technology jobs as part of its efforts to expand its Boston Tech Hub over the next several years. 

The multinational tech giant in a press release said that the jobs will be added to multiple support teams across the company, including Alexa, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amazon Robotics and Amazon Pharmacy. 

Amazon added in the announcement that the jobs will include roles in software development, artificial intelligence and machine learning, as well as other support roles in management, finance and other departments. 

To meet the needs of the growing teams, Amazon also said it has leased a new 17-story office building in Boston’s Seaport. The 630,000 square foot location will include office space, “innovation labs” and “mixed-use common areas for Amazon employees,” according to the company’s news release. 

“We’re proud to be creating more than 3,000 new jobs over the next several years at our Boston Tech Hub,” Rohit Prasad, vice president and head scientist for Alexa at Amazon, said in a statement along with the press release. “Much of the technology that makes Alexa smarter every day is invented in Boston.”

Prasad added, “Our teams here play a key role in driving Amazon’s innovations – from Alexa to AWS to Amazon Pharmacy – and help us keep delighting customers around the world. We look forward to continuing to be a strong community partner, helping to grow and diversify the local economy, and create new opportunities for Boston and its residents.”

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) commended the job addition plans in a statement, writing, “Our administration welcomes Amazon’s continued efforts to invest in our communities.” 

“This expansion is significant and will create thousands more jobs for our highly skilled workforce in different regions of the Commonwealth,” Baker added. 

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh (D) echoed these sentiments, saying in his own statement included in the press release that the “expansion will grow our technology workforce and support a strong pipeline of diverse talent and a range of new jobs and opportunities for Boston residents.”

While other companies have encountered hardship over the past year due to the coronavirus pandemic-fueled economic crisis, Amazon has experienced substantial growth, largely due to customers’ reliance on the company’s products and delivery services as lockdown orders limited in-person shopping. 

Amazon added more than 400,000 jobs last year, bringing its global workforce to more than 1.1 million, according to The Wall Street Journal. Amazon is also the second-largest employer in the U.S., with a national workforce of more than 800,000 people.