Amazon’s decision to create 100,000 full-time jobs in the United States over the next 18 months was due in part to President-elect Trump’s influence, transition officials claimed Thursday.
In a statement early Thursday morning, the tech company said it will add thousands of full-time customer service and factory jobs in 2017, not just at its headquarters in Seattle but to “fulfillment centers and other facilities in local communities across the country.”
“Innovation is one of our guiding principles at Amazon, and it’s created hundreds of thousands of American jobs,” CEO Jeff Bezos said.
Incoming White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer noted on a conference call with reporters that the Amazon announcement comes just weeks after Trump met with “heads of tech companies and urged them to keep jobs in the U.S.”
Trump has previously taken credit for convincing Verizon Wireless and Ford to keep jobs and manufacturing plants in the U.S. rather than outsourcing them to Mexico or overseas. The president-elect also met with Alibaba Executive Chairman Jack Ma last week to discuss the company’s plan to create 1 million American jobs by allowing small businesses to sell goods to Asian consumers.
According to its announcement, most of the new positions Amazon plans to create will be at centers in California, Florida, New Jersey and Texas.
