If you are looking for a job in the tech sector, now might be a good time to brush up your resume.
Amazon is doubling its workforce in B.C. by adding 1,000 more jobs by early 2020.
Amazon is expanding in Vancouver, but HQ2 is still any city’s game
This brings the company’s total workforce in the province up to 2,000.
“We’re growing a strong, sustainable economy that benefits everyone, by bringing good-paying jobs to B.C. and investing in training the workforce of tomorrow,” B.C. Premier John Horgan said at the announcement Friday.
“We will build on Amazon’s plans to bring 1,000 new jobs to B.C. by continuing to open up access to education and skills training.”
Amazon, based in Seattle, is set to lease a new 4,500 square-metre building on Dunsmuir Street to accommodate its growing workforce.
WATCH: Cities up the ante to win Amazon’s HQ2
In B.C., jobs in the tech sector pay 75 per cent more than the provincial average and tech companies employ more than 100,000 people in the province.
“The message we are hearing from leaders in the tech industry is they will hire as many people as we can train,” said Parliamentary Secretary for Technology Rick Glumac in a release.
“We’re bringing down barriers for B.C. workers because the more we invest in people, the more companies will invest in B.C.”
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The announcement comes with Amazon on the hunt for a North American city to house what it calls HQ2: a second headquarters.
Many Canadian cities consider Amazon a catch. After all, the tech titan is promising up to 50,000 high paying jobs and a US$5-billion investment.
Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, Halifax, Ottawa, Edmonton and Calgary have submitted proposals, but Friday’s announcement is calling into question whether Vancouver is now off the list.
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