Amazon plans 800-job expansion in Austin — but it's not related to HQ2

In a move to build up its presence in the capitol of Texas, Amazon will be adding 800 jobs to its tech hub in Austin. 

The major tech firm has created more than 22,000 full-time jobs in Texas and has invested over $7 billion in the state since 2011. According to the company's estimates, these investments have contributed more than $5 billion to Texas’ economy from 2011 to 2017. 

“In the last four years, we have created more than a 1,000 jobs in Austin,” Terry Leeper, general manager of Amazon’s Austin Tech Hub, said in a statement. “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.”

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Austin serves as one of Amazon's 17 North American tech hubs, and it currently houses more than 5,600 Amazon employees, according to the Austin American-Statesman. The city also serves as a growing place for tech business – in December of 2018, Apple announced its plans to build a $1 billion campus there.

The announcement to expand in Austin comes over a month after Amazon decided to cancel its plans for a new headquarters in New York City. Following this decision, Amazon said that it would spread the 25,000 jobs planned for New York to its other corporate locations in North America. However, the current Austin expansion is not tied to the New York withdrawal, Leeper told the Statesman.

To accommodate for this increase in jobs, Amazon will expand into a new 145,000-square-foot office in Austin, which will open in 2020.

Follow USA TODAY intern Ben Tobin on Twitter: @TobinBen