WA: Amazon Expands Footprint to Bellevue, Looking to Bring Thousands of Jobs to the Area

Amazon is officially moving more of its corporate employees into its newest building in Bellevue, Wash., as the company continues to add jobs, inching toward 12,000 employee in the city.

The new building, named “Dynamo,” marks Amazon’s ninth building in Bellevue and provides space for more than 1,500 employees working across various teams at Amazon, including the Amazon Web Services Database, Machine Learning, AI, Compute, and Networking teams, reports 570KVI Talk Radio. The company is initially moving 1,000 workers from other locations in the Puget Sound region.

“Amazon’s continued investment in Bellevue is a vote of confidence for our city, the excellent talent pool, and quality of life that Bellevue offers,” Bellevue Mayor Lynne Robinson said in a news release. “Amazon exemplifies what productive public-private partnerships can look like.”

Amazon’s goal is to bring 25,000 jobs to Bellevue. In comparison, the company has around 50,000 corporate employees in Seattle, according to Amazon spokesperson Zach Goldsztejn.

Over the last few years, the company has expanded its operations across North America. Across Amazon’s network of 18 North American tech hubs, the company has more than 70,000 corporate employees.

According to Goldsztejn, Amazon’s expansion to Bellevue and the east side of Lake Washington is part of a natural progression of the company’s growth in the Puget Sound region. The expansion was also influenced by Bellevue’s available space for Amazon and more business-friendly community.

Amazon is not subject to a payroll tax in Bellevue.

Amazon is subject to Seattle’s JumpStart Payroll Tax, which requires businesses with at least $7 million in annual payroll to pay a tax for all their Seattle employees who make at least $150,000 a year.

The company could also be subject to another payroll tax if a proposed ballot measure is passed this November. The measure would levy a 5% compensation payroll tax on Seattle employers with workers who make more than $1 million a year.

Revenue generated from the tax would fund social housing in Seattle.