Amazon Comes to the East Coast Local employers will need some new tricks to compete against the tech giant for talent Mike Hicks
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he bidding war is over: Amazon is moving to Questions Local Companies Should Consider the Big Apple and next door to the nation's capital. Working for a major player like Amazon comes with perks, but 29 percent of Gen. Z-ers prefer an The company's selection of New York City and empowering work culture over higher compensaNorthern Virginia for its new headquarters is a tion, according to a survey by Door of Clubs. Rathmajor win for the combined 50,000 people Am- er than trying to keep up with Amazon's business azon will employ in those regions. Labor market model, local companies should focus on creating participants will have many more job opportuni- positive workplace cultures that keep employees ties to choose from, and considering Amazon's engaged. high-profile status and recent minimum wage Companies going head hike to $15 per hour, the to head with Amazon company is an ideal emwill have to market ployer for many candithemselves as great dates. places to work and deliver on that promise. However, the exciteWhat keeps employees ment this news generat the same company ates for the job market for years is an atmois not shared by local sphere they enjoy workcompanies, which now ing in every day with opface more pressure than ever to recruit and retain portunities to move up. Keeping these workplace top talent. priorities in mind, employers can leverage their tech stacks and digital workplaces to compete Attracting skilled candidates is already a ma- with conglomerates like Amazon. jor challenge for companies across the US: Job openings hit a record high this past July with How Local Companies nearly 7 million vacancies, outnumbering unemCan Keep Employees Engaged ployed people by 659,000. Making employees' lives at work as easy as possiTo compete with Amazon, employers in these ble is key to keeping them engaged, but many emmarkets will need to use the right non-monetary ployees waste time on tasks that could be easily benefits to attract the best applicants and keep eliminated with the right collaboration tools. For existing employees from leaving. example, an Igloo Software study found the aver18
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