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March 28 (UPI) -- Amazon will add 800 tech-focused jobs to its hub in Austin, Texas, the company announced Thursday. The online retail giant has leased 145,000 square feet on four floors at Domain 10, a 15-story tower being built in north Austin. The new location will open next year and the new jobs will begot added in the next few years.
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The Austin hub focuses on Amazon Web Services, Amazon business, Amazon devices, video game design and advertising. The new hires will focus on software and hardware engineering, research science and cloud computing. The company did not provide salary estimates.
Gov. Greg Abbott said in a statement that "Texas will continue to chart a path toward greater economic prosperity."
Amazon already employs 6,600 workers in the Austin area with about 1,000 being corporate workers. Another 3,000 employees work in nearby San Marcos and Austin-based Whole Foods, also owned by Amazon, employees another 2,600.
Amazon's expansion in Austin is not related to the company's decision to cancel its plants to put a major headquarters in New York, company site lead Terry Leeper said.
Austin made the list of 20 finalists for the $5 billion second headquarters. Amazon eventually settled on Arlington, Va. and New York but later nixed plans for the Queens location after a strong backlash.
"In the last four years, we have created more than 1,000 jobs in Austin," Leeper said. "With a strong pool of technical talent in Austin and a dynamic quality of life, we are excited to continue to expand and create more opportunity in this vibrant city."
