Md. Economist: Amazon's HQ2 Would Employ 50,000 With Average Salary Of $100K

BALTIMORE (WJZ)-- Amazon's Seattle headquarters employs 40,000 people. A second headquarters will employ 50,000. Right now, Montgomery County is one of 20 possible sites for what's being called HQ2.

"The average HQ2 job would pay one $100,000 per anum," says economist Anirban Basu. "That means additional demand for people in retail, landscaping, school teachers, nurses, and so on and so forth."

His Sage Policy Group did a study for Maryland on the economic impact HQ2 would have on Maryland.

The headquarters could add up to 101,000 support jobs and generate $7.7 million in annual wages, with an overall economic impact of $17 million.

As to why Amazon needs a second headquarters: "They've outgrown us. They've got six-and-a-half-thousand job openings and they're having a hard time filling them. They believe they've tapped out the talent poll in Seattle," says Seattle economist Matthew Gardner.

That plays to one of Maryland's strengths, according to Basu.

"There's an enormous amount of human capital. Tremendously brilliant people, access, of course, to the nation's power brokers in Washington D.C.," he says.

Maryland may also hold other advantages. There are three international airports within driving distance and a world class port.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns the "Washington Post" and has purchased a home in the D.C. area.

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