Big Tech Bets on the Big Apple

Matthew Haag reports on a (perhaps) surprising twist in the story of office space in New York City: big tech companies Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google are quickly buying up and making plans for commercial properties in Manhattan: "Despite a pandemic that has ravaged New York, hollowed out many of its office buildings and raised fundamental questions about its future, the four companies collectively known as Big Tech are all significantly expanding their footprint in the city, giving it a badly needed vote of confidence."

The question of when those companies will start sending workers back to the office in these high-rent locations is still unclear—as with most other companies employing large numbers office workers in New York City's business district—but the fact that so many big, wealthy companies are betting on the future of the city is still notable.

"Facebook has just leased enough new office space in Manhattan to nearly triple its current local work force, including at one of the city’s most iconic buildings, the 107-year-old former main post office complex near Pennsylvania Station," explains Haag for evidence. "Apple, which set up its first office in New York a decade ago, is expanding to another building in Manhattan. And Google and Amazon are stitching together corporate campuses in the city more quickly than anywhere else in the world."

The companies are collectively hiring enough in the city to fill all of those new acquisitions. "Collectively, Amazon, Google, Facebook and Apple have hired more than 2,600 employees in the city so far this year, bringing their total employment to over 22,000 people. Facebook alone has added 1,100 workers to bring its current work force up to 4,000," according to Haag.