Amazon.com Inc said on Thursday it would build a $US5 billion ($6.2 billion) second headquarters in North America, kicking off a competition between cities and states to offer tax cuts and incentives that could bring 50,000 new jobs.
The largest e-commerce company said it intended to create “HQ2”, a headquarters that would be a “full equal” to its Seattle office, Chief Executive Jeff Bezos said in a statement. The company wants a metropolitan area of more than a million people with an international airport, good education and mass transit.
Companies with two headquarters are rare and distance could challenge the management abilities of Bezos and other leaders, but some investors and analysts also saw the geographical diversification as a way to cut costs and risk.
“The company is changing radically and it depends so heavily on disruptive thinking. Moving to a new city and finding a new talent pool is a good idea,” said Antony Karabus, chief executive of HRC Retail Advisory. Amazon’s growth rate means they need thousands of new employees every year, he added.
Source: smh.com.au
