1,300 tech jobs on tap
Amazon deal boon for city, but ‘ high levels of competition’may mean many residentsmiss out
“This is another big company fromout of the area that wants to be near the talent in Silicon Valley.” — Stephen Levy, analyst
EAST PALO ALTO — Amazon has leased a big office complex in East Palo Alto in a deal that will give the Silicon Valley city its largest tech presence and add 1,300 jobs, dramatically increasing the number of people who work in the city.
Although East Palo is near thriving tech centers Palo Alto and Menlo Park, over the years it has attracted far fewer tech jobs and the economic advantages those bring, so the Amazon lease could be a boon for the city.
Amazon leased 214,000 square feet at 2100 University Avenue, building on its presence in East Palo Alto, where the e-commerce giant already occupies 80,000 square feet in
the University Circle offices.
The expected boost in Amazon jobs represents a 50 increase in the total number of jobs that exist today in East Palo Alto, the city stated in a staff report. Amazon will work with Sobrato, the developer of its new office space, to assist city residents in finding jobs.
“The Amazon employees will be predominantly engaged in software programming and development, and associated ancillary office support,” the report stated.
Seattle-based Amazon confirmed in an email to this newspaper that it is leasing the building and that more than 1,000 Amazon employees will work in the offices.
Amazon lately has widened its Bay Area footprint. In February, the company leased 350,000 square feet in Sunnyvale in a deal arranged by realty brokerage Newmark Cornish & Carey.
“This is another big company from out of the area that wants to be near the talent in Silicon Valley,” said Stephen Levy, director of the Palo Alto-based Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy.
In December, developer Sobrato Organization completed the East Palo Alto offices that Amazon leased.
It won’t be easy for East Palo Alto residents to land many of the new jobs in their city.
“Many of the software developer and other hightech positions are increasingly difficult to fill at this time because of high levels of competition for qualified employees in the high-tech industry,” the city staff report stated. “Local hiring is always a challenge, regardless of the city. Menlo Park, which has a highly educated population, has only 4.2 percent of its employees work at Facebook. The estimated number for East Palo Alto was 0.37 percent.”
The jobless rate for residents of East Palo Alto in January was 4.7 percent — well above that of people living nearby, state records show. That same month, jobless rates were 2.3 percent in Menlo Park, 2.5 per- cent in Palo Alto, 2.5 percent in San Mateo County and 3.7 percent in Santa Clara County.
The jobless rates mean the stakes are high for East Palo Alto to be certain it can prod Amazon and other companies to hire local residents.
“There may be upwards of 1 million to 1.2 million square feet of office development coming to the Planning Commission and the City Council,” East Palo Alto City Councilman Carlos Romero said Thursday. “We need to have a strong pathway for residents to get jobs within that envelope of development, or we will have failed our community.”
Amazon and Sobrato will team up in an effort to match East Palo Alto residents to Amazon positions and other jobs in the region, city records show. A proposed $1.2 million program would staff an employment center. Over a 10-year period, the center would assist the city’s residents to find, land and keep a job, the staff report said.