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Old 10-05-2017, 10:20 AM
 
28,453 posts, read 85,379,084 times
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As I said, the concern is that, win or lose when it comes to the hype around an Amazon HQ2 in Chicago the longer term trends of the "pie getting resliced" is something that will have to be addressed...

I have first hand experience with the shifts that have seen IBM expand overseas while shrinking in the US -- https://www.computerworld.com/articl...eeds-u-s-.html

I've highlighted the negative consequences of the collapse of Motorola and ATT locally -- What Happened to Motorola | Chicago magazine | September 2014

What needs to happen is a broader examination of how to tackle the challenges that will continue to result from the disruptions of firms like Amazon -- https://www.bisnow.com/chicago/news/...us-hed-1-72504

My fear is that, win or lose, the efforts to really invigorate the overall business climate won't happen...

 
Old 10-05-2017, 01:50 PM
 
Location: In the heights
37,153 posts, read 39,404,784 times
Reputation: 21252
Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett View Post
As I said, the concern is that, win or lose when it comes to the hype around an Amazon HQ2 in Chicago the longer term trends of the "pie getting resliced" is something that will have to be addressed...

I have first hand experience with the shifts that have seen IBM expand overseas while shrinking in the US -- https://www.computerworld.com/articl...eeds-u-s-.html

I've highlighted the negative consequences of the collapse of Motorola and ATT locally -- What Happened to Motorola | Chicago magazine | September 2014

What needs to happen is a broader examination of how to tackle the challenges that will continue to result from the disruptions of firms like Amazon -- https://www.bisnow.com/chicago/news/...us-hed-1-72504

My fear is that, win or lose, the efforts to really invigorate the overall business climate won't happen...
A potential benefit is that Chicago has a fairly large number of startups, and given that Amazon attracts a lot pf skilled technical workers and is also a sometimes grueling work environment, this means that the startup environment would get a steady influx of people who come in for Amazon and then migrate over to the various startups.
 
Old 10-05-2017, 02:05 PM
 
2,029 posts, read 2,362,554 times
Reputation: 4702
Quote:
Originally Posted by chet everett View Post
Haha lol rofl et cetera...

I've always had a bias to rely on online sources to counter the too common pie-in-the-sky boosterism that is often baseless.

You want concise? How about the fact that though Chicago has a MASSIVE collection of Federal offices, that include millions of sq ft of centrally located offices AS WELL AS huge amounts of space at O'Hare, Midway, FAA Des Plaines offices, several dedicated VA hospitals and scattered administrative sites, national DOE labs at Fermi and Argonne the totals were under 50k -- http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...ng-much-larger Given the further fact that there is tremendous "overhead" of security associated with that employment AND a recognition that much of the modernization that has reduced headcount for private sector employers has NOT really happened with Federal employment as it clings to the people intensive bureaucracies that allow for old fashioned "power through numbers"...
Mod cut. Federal employment is way off its peak since the Reagan administration, and continues to shrink as retirements increase in an aging federal workforce.
Couple this with the Trump administrations hiring of Secretaries of Agencies bent on destroying the Agencies that they were hired to improve, and your statement is nonsense. Federal employment continues to shrink with further types of buyouts, and outright threats to eliminate important agencies such as the EPA and cut Community Planning and Development grants at HUD, and eliminate positions in departments such as the State Department.

Last edited by PJSaturn; 10-05-2017 at 03:50 PM.. Reason: Personal attack.
 
Old 10-05-2017, 04:43 PM
 
28,453 posts, read 85,379,084 times
Reputation: 18729
I have stated before that my wife is a current Federal employee, I well know the trends in retirement and the lack of enthusiasm that there is for new hires -- those trends do nothing to change the fact that even at it peak the substantial complexes that include massive offices, hospitals and labs are not packed with hordes of workers.

The rate of growth of some agencies has been pretty well covered by traditional news sources; a good friend is currently an attorney with the EPA's Chicago offices and there is no dispute that the goal is to reduce head count after expansion -- Rep. Morgan Griffith says EPA job growth outstips that of U.S. government | PolitiFact Virginia

In the context of Amazon's dreams of having potentially 50,000 folks working out of "HQ2" the facts are pretty clear the most recent data on civilian employment make it clear that such a workforce would dwarf that of the Federal government in not just Chicago but the entire state of Illinois --
Federal Employees By State

Looking at other noted tech employment centers one is struck that even in San Fransico the dominance of Salesforce.com is achieved with just 6,600 workers -- https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfranc...francisco.html

Some one else mentioned the well known consulting firm Accenture, their largest office is in Chicago and it has 5,500 folks working from it... Chicago's Top Workplaces: Accenture - Chicago Tribune

The only way that the Amazon employee counts makes any sense whatsoever is NOT in sense of traditional HQ type jobs BUT in far less white collar workplaces -- Wal-Mart Is Largest Employer in 20 States (NYSE: WMT) - 24/7 Wall St.
 
Old 10-05-2017, 05:14 PM
 
Location: In the heights
37,153 posts, read 39,404,784 times
Reputation: 21252
Quote:
Originally Posted by emathias View Post
It's a fair question. What exactly do the 380,000 people on IBM's payroll do? What do the 425,000 Accenture employees do? Or the 176,000 HP Enterprise Services employees? Or the 203,000 Deloitte employees? Or the 261,000 Cognizant employees?
Aren't those total headcounts for the entire companies though? Apple's ridiculously large main campus has 12,000 workers.

Mind you, I'm not saying its impossible or even unlikely. Amazon's current main headquarters in Seattle is undergoing an expansion to fit 71.5K people in a few years from now, but I'm curious about how that's set up. What is it that they're about to push with such massive headquarters?
 
Old 10-05-2017, 08:07 PM
 
4,011 posts, read 4,253,056 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OyCrumbler View Post
Aren't those total headcounts for the entire companies though? Apple's ridiculously large main campus has 12,000 workers.

Mind you, I'm not saying its impossible or even unlikely. Amazon's current main headquarters in Seattle is undergoing an expansion to fit 71.5K people in a few years from now, but I'm curious about how that's set up. What is it that they're about to push with such massive headquarters?
Think bigger and wider, guys. With the sheer number of different industries they are currently in, it's not hard to see how different types of specialists will be required, often collocated near others at various fulfillment centers. More background-

https://qz.com/1051814/what-is-amazon-really/
 
Old 10-05-2017, 10:15 PM
 
181 posts, read 190,723 times
Reputation: 212
If Amazon comes to Chicago, it should be built in Southside Chicago. I'm sure gentrification on that end would speed up very quickly and in return reduce the alarming crime rate in that area. The land parcels on the Southside is there to make it happen.
 
Old 10-06-2017, 04:49 AM
 
Location: Chicago
6,359 posts, read 8,833,185 times
Reputation: 5871
Quote:
Originally Posted by CDT93 View Post
If Amazon comes to Chicago, it should be built in Southside Chicago. I'm sure gentrification on that end would speed up very quickly and in return reduce the alarming crime rate in that area. The land parcels on the Southside is there to make it happen.
Why would Amazon see this as attractive alternative? For one, I suspect they would want a far more high profile location than on the Southeast Side. In addition, and far bigger, where would the transportation be on the SE Side to even allow this to take place?

Your point about such a Southeast Side location being good for Chicago and the multiplier effects you mentioned is spot on.....but what's in it for Amazon? I see....nothing.
 
Old 10-06-2017, 08:23 AM
 
Location: In the heights
37,153 posts, read 39,404,784 times
Reputation: 21252
Quote:
Originally Posted by edsg25 View Post
Why would Amazon see this as attractive alternative? For one, I suspect they would want a far more high profile location than on the Southeast Side. In addition, and far bigger, where would the transportation be on the SE Side to even allow this to take place?

Your point about such a Southeast Side location being good for Chicago and the multiplier effects you mentioned is spot on.....but what's in it for Amazon? I see....nothing.
The only way it would work is if it came with concommitant work on transit. In that unlikely scenario, something like the Michael Reese site would need to have service at the 27th St Metra Electric act more like rapid transit with higher frequencies and lower in city fares through more Metra trains running and/or revising the current agreement with NICTD to allow both direction boarding and disembarking on South Shore Line trains and ultimately making the 16th St connector for Metra with through-running at Union Station to O’Hare like in the Crossrail Chicago plan.
 
Old 10-06-2017, 09:45 AM
 
28,453 posts, read 85,379,084 times
Reputation: 18729
Default Sounds like a better opportunity for Elon Musk...

Quote:
Originally Posted by OyCrumbler View Post
The only way it would work is if it came with concommitant work on transit. In that unlikely scenario, something like the Michael Reese site would need to have service at the 27th St Metra Electric act more like rapid transit with higher frequencies and lower in city fares through more Metra trains running and/or revising the current agreement with NICTD to allow both direction boarding and disembarking on South Shore Line trains and ultimately making the 16th St connector for Metra with through-running at Union Station to O’Hare like in the Crossrail Chicago plan.

The sorts of investments that would be needed to deal with the weirdly "isolated but not all that far" aspects of the Michael Reese site are just too huge for Chicago or Illinois or even the Federal government to tackle...

The guy to do it is the same guy that has revolutionized electric cars AND out flanked NASA & Boeing with SpaceX -- http://www.ibtimes.com/spacex-launch...eekend-2597470

In a "future meets the present" kind of way it would be interesting to see the Hyperloop -- Hypnotized by Elon Musk’s Hyperloop|The New Yorkler


Leaders who have to deal with the reality of rusty bridges and diesel locomotives rightly see this as kind of a distraction -- Amtrak CEO CNBC interview Elon Musk Hyperloop - Business Insider

The 'trajectory' of literally angling a tunnel out along I-55 would make perfect sense for those who could build links to St. Louis, Nashville or even Dallas -- all very viable options to leverage...
Great News for Everyone! Elon Musk Is Building a Hyperloop| Wired Magazine
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