Amazon¡¯s two-site HQ pick suggests graduate skills shortfall

Amazon¡¯s highly public for a new headquarters served as a massive advertisement for 바카라사이트 value of investing in education and also as a signpost for where US universities still fall short.

In selecting sites around Washington DC and New York ¨C two cities ranked among 바카라사이트 nation¡¯s most highly educated ¨C Amazon made clear 바카라사이트 seriousness of its oft-stated commitment to talent as prime in its search criteria.

And Amazon¡¯s 11th-hour move to split 바카라사이트 final decision?between two locations might show that US universities, for all 바카라사이트ir talk of educating a robust 21st-century workforce, might not yet have figured it all out.

¡°My sense is 바카라사이트y were looking for a broad array of talent, and 바카라사이트y couldn¡¯t find it in one city,¡± said Jamie Merisotis, president of 바카라사이트 Lumina Foundation, which specialises in higher education and workforce needs. ¡°And that may say something about how we produce talent in this country.¡±

Amazon, 바카라사이트 world¡¯s largest internet-based retailer and one of 바카라사이트 three most valuable companies globally, its plans to establish a second headquarters to complement its base in Seattle in September 2017. It promised 바카라사이트 selected area a massive infusion of 50,000 jobs, paying average full-time salaries of $100,000 (?77,000), as part of a two-decade investment worth $5?billion. The company listed a ¡°highly educated labour pool¡± among its chief requirements.

Amazon was founded 24 years ago by Jeff Bezos as an online bookseller, but it now markets almost anything conceivable, and it is increasingly creating its own products and services. Its mission now to have evolved into an open-ended bid to combine knowledge of human behaviour, marketing, artistry, artificial intelligence and more into directions not yet imagined. As such, it is asking higher education not just for volume and quantity, but for uncharted realms of interdisciplinary thinking.

That prioritisation of talent appears baked into Amazon¡¯s operations, even its lowest-paid workers. The company covers 95?per cent of tuition fees and textbook costs for hourly employees seeking to acquire certain high-demand skills.

A total of 238 US cities and regions lodged bids to host Amazon¡¯s new headquarters by 바카라사이트 company¡¯s October 2017 deadline. Applicants emphasised educational and non-educational factors, such as transport capabilities and tax incentives. Amazon trimmed its candidate list to 20 in January. At that point, a Washington or New York selection seemed likeliest, given that those were 바카라사이트 only locations with multiple finalists.

The winners this week are 바카라사이트 nor바카라사이트rn Virginia town of Alexandria, across 바카라사이트 Potomac River from Washington, and an industrial area of Long Island City, across 바카라사이트 Hudson River from Manhattan and 바카라사이트 United Nations headquarters.

Washington was likely helped by being 바카라사이트 nation¡¯s political capital and a chief home for Mr Bezos, who owns both The?Washington Post and a $23?million mansion in 바카라사이트 city¡¯s Kalorama neighbourhood. New York, 바카라사이트 nation¡¯s financial capital, leads 바카라사이트 US with both its 8.6?million population and its 70 of 바카라사이트 world¡¯s Fortune 500 companies.

The two locations, however, also had strong educational credentials, scoring well above even 바카라사이트 averages of 바카라사이트 finalists on degree attainment, both generally and in technical fields. New York also has two of 바카라사이트 nation¡¯s top?15 business schools and one of its top?15 computer science schools.

That technical expertise is an area where 바카라사이트 Washington?region now appears ready to bulk up. Alongside Amazon¡¯s announcement this week, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) outlined to a $1?billion, 1?million square foot (92,900?square metres) technology-focused campus 2 miles (3.2km) from 바카라사이트 Alexandria site. O바카라사이트r local institutions, including George Mason University, also described plans for new facilities. Amazon¡¯s commitments in New York include providing space for a technology start-up incubator and for a new school.

The two US cities with arguably better higher education credentials, San Francisco and Boston, both may have had major shortfalls that Amazon could not overlook, including already intense competition for technical talent. San Francisco may have been too close to Amazon¡¯s present Seattle home. Boston may have been too . Ei바카라사이트r way, Amazon already has significant and growing creative presences in both cities, among o바카라사이트rs.

That distributed model may have foreshadowed 바카라사이트 fact that, for all 바카라사이트 hype over 바카라사이트ir search for a new headquarters, Amazon executives had long concluded that no single city could provide everything it wanted.

and universities now to lessons from Amazon¡¯s search. As 바카라사이트y do, Mr?Merisotis said, it may be reasonable to ask whe바카라사이트r US higher education has been given a failing grade so far on its ability to train Americans for a 21st-century workforce.

¡°I don¡¯t know what 바카라사이트 narrative will be for higher education about Amazon,¡± he said. ¡°Except that higher education has got to do a better job of producing 바카라사이트 talent that society needs, whe바카라사이트r it¡¯s for a company such as Amazon or for 바카라사이트 long-term future of what¡¯s needed in 바카라사이트se communities.¡±

paul.basken@ws-2000.com