With all the hype surrounding Amazon's HQ2 selection process, it looks like one of the other major techs was quietly putting plans together for an HQ2 of their own. According to several published reports, in 2019 Apple will be breaking ground on a new 133-acre campus in North Austin.
At a price tag of $1B Austin will become Apple's second largest facility outside of their Cupertino HQ. Apple is initially planning to hire 5,000 workers for Austin, and another 10,000 shadow jobs could be created in the market. With this investment Apple will become the single largest employer in Austin practically overnight.
It's interesting to see Apple join Amazon in significantly expanding back east. The trend is a nod to the tech rich workforce which now exists in several markets outside of the West Coast, and a growing realization that the cost of living in California and Washington is making it harder to keep expanding there. Overall I think this is a positive trend for our entire economy.