Aaron Rodriguez
October
18, 2020
Written
Presentation 2
Cohort
21S
Key Concepts
Key concepts that were
highlighted in this week’s readings and videos were focused around the
“Creative Class” The materials focused on what it is, how to attract them, and
how it affects the economy of a city. Companies today are no longer trying to
attract people to them, they are moving to where the people are. These hubs or
the creative class are metropolitan areas with diverse communities and a
multitude of opportunities to experience different cultures.
The creative class work
with their minds as opposed to their bodies. As “blue-collar jobs” continue to
be automated those jobs decline while creative class jobs continue to
rise. The creative class is not only about
art-based fields, they include fields such as science, engineering, and
education which traditionally are not perceived to need much creativity for
success. The creative class tackles creative problem solving, drawing on
complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems, and cities that embrace
this class experience slower unemployment. To tackle complex problems, the
creative class must understand different viewpoints and perspectives to find
solutions, and therefore diversity is favored over self-interest. Creativity is
the source of growth in this class and they do not care whom it comes from,
which is why they are more inclusive of different backgrounds. Given this
diverse group of working people they also want their experiences in the cities
they live in to be diverse. For cities to attract these people they must have a
diverse art, music, and food scene to attract them which will attract
companies. The creative class has shifted the way that the world operates
today, people are not moving to where the jobs are anymore, jobs are moving to
where the people are, and this has benefited both the companies and their
employees.
IT “Idea Tangible”
An excellent example of
the power of the creative class is through the way that Amazon chooses its warehouse
locations. Amazon finds locations where there are large metropolitan areas
because this is where their consumers are as well as where they can find talent.
Once they find these places, they find the outskirts of these areas and put
their warehouses there as there is more land and it is cheaper. States with the
most fulfillment centers are states like California, New Jersey, and Florida
with plans to expand in those states as well. Their diverse communities attract
a wide array of talent which will attract diverse talent that can uniquely tackle
problems. Their investments in these communities further develop these
communities and allow for a higher-end experience that people are craving.
Amazon is attracted to the creative class and brings their warehouses to these
areas and once they are there, they invest more into the community to make it a
place where their employees want to live, work and play.
The creative class is
very important to companies such as Amazon. This is made evident with their
decision to put a headquarters in Queens. Originally, they had wanted $3
billion in tax breaks in return for the establishment of their headquarters and
would bring in between 25,000 to 40,000 jobs. This proposal was denied, and Amazon
decided to sign a giant lease in New York to accommodate 1,500 employees. This
is a much smaller deal than originally planned. However, Amazon saw that they
needed to be near the creative class and will be able to expand as they
continue to stay there. Amazon will continue to invest in these communities to
provide the infrastructure they need to operate as well as provide the
lifestyle that their employees are looking for.
Amazon has had a large
focus on developing around these communities. Since 2011 Amazon has invested
more than $160 billion in the United States in areas such as fulfillment
centers, cloud computing infrastructure to compensation of employees. This
investment has brought in $100 billion in additional GDP to the United States
due to the ripple effect through the economy creating 360,000 indirect jobs in
2017.
In conclusion, the way
that companies operate has changed forever. Companies will go to where the
talent instead of the way it used to be where the talent would have to come to
them. Companies are so interested in the creative class that they will do anything
to be established in these cities. It doesn’t matter if in the immediate term
it will benefit them financially because they know that in the long run, their
company will benefit from having creative class employees. The creative class
is essential to the growth and development of business today and moving
forward.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/01/19/map-of-amazon-warehouses.html
https://formaspace.com/articles/material-handling/amazons-warehouse-strategy/
https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2020/10/02/decade-of-change-amazon.html
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