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'A Major Distraction': Is A Megadeal Like Amazon's HQ2 Always Worth It?
Thursday marks the deadline for bids in Amazon's highly publicized search for the location of its second headquarters, dubbed HQ2. Cities are clamoring to land the conglomerate's project and its unparalleled promise of up to 50,000 jobs paying an average of $100,000, at one of the world's fastest-growing companies.
But with that comes some public soul-searching: How much should a city or state subsidize a wealthy American corporation in exchange for such a shiny promise? [...] Financial incentives are among numerous criteria Amazon included in its solicitation of bids. [...] By multiple estimates, Amazon has already cashed in on more than $1 billion in taxpayer-funded subsidies and incentives for its warehouses, data centers and other operations.
[...] "I often thought, as governor, it would be sort of nice, if all the governors just got together and said, 'Look, we're just not going to play this anymore,' " says former Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle. Doyle was at the helm during the financial crisis in 2008, when General Motors shuttered plants, including a factory in Janesville, Wis. But later, the automaker said it would reopen one location, bringing back the jobs. Wisconsin put together its largest incentive package yet — Doyle says he felt an obligation to — but it lost to Michigan's even bigger offer. [...] Since then, Wisconsin has become infamous for its eye-popping $3-billion financial incentive to get a Foxconn liquid-crystal display plant.
Previously: Amazon to Invest $5 Billion in Second HQ Outside of Seattle
Cities Desperate to Become the Location of Amazon's "Second Headquarters"
(Score: 4, Insightful) by mhajicek on Thursday October 19 2017, @09:29PM (4 children)
Up to 50000 jobs includes zero jobs. Everyone knows Amazon is all about automation; they'll get the job done with the fewest employees possible, and the number of employees will likely peak soon and then diminish over time as they get better with automation.
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 2) by arslan on Thursday October 19 2017, @09:58PM (3 children)
Ummm this is HQ v2.0 not a warehouse or branch. Also last I check we can't build a giant campus with pure automation, so there's gonna be lots of one-off jobs to build it. After that there gonna be lots of men/women in suits since they've not offshored or robotize the PHBs yet and probably quite some knowledge workers. I also doubt they have robots cleaning the shit stains of the loo yet, so yea lots of blue collar jobs.
Is it 50,000? No idea, but definitely not zero or a low amount given it is HQ2. As for the answer to the headline is it worth it? Well yes, if you play your cards right like in any deal, offer more than what you'll get in return then you get burned like any other business deal.
Likely hood of Politicians getting a good business deal for the folks they represent? Very low. Likely hood of Politicians getting some side benefits off of massive tenders regardless of outcome? Very high. The likely hood of the folks they represent getting screwed? Almost certainly.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 19 2017, @11:13PM (2 children)
Whatever the final number of employees Amazon brings in, everyone is either ignoring, or unaware of, the fact that the hosting economy will have about 3 jobs created for every one that Amazon brings in. So, even if they only bring in 10,000 Amazon jobs, there will be 30,000 supporting jobs created in that community . . .
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 20 2017, @12:06AM (1 child)
Those numbers are being pulled from somewhere, and I bet there isn't much light around.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 20 2017, @09:01PM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_multiplier_effect [wikipedia.org]
OK, 2.5. I rounded up.