Apple to expand employment for new Mesa command center

MESA, Ariz. — Apple plans on hiring as many as 500 workers for its newly-developed command center in Mesa, according to Phoenix Business Journal.

Apple CFO Luca Maestri, along with other top executives, told Mesa Mayor John Giles the 1.2 million-square-foot data center will be led by Apple executives from Silicon Valley. The additional 300- to 500-person workforce is expected to be local hires.

One Apple facility in Austin, Texas, hired just 150 people during the first round of hires and now boasts a 6,000-person staff, according to Giles.

“There could be more hires,” he said in an interview with the Phoenix Business Journal. “They told me that Apple has a history of expanding where it has a major footprint.”

After announcing the facility last February, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said the company committed to spending more than $2 billion over 10 years. Giles said that figure has increased since the development.

“They plan more than $2 billion in capital investment over five years,” he said. “Apple said they are making a 30-year commitment to Mesa.”

Plans for the facility have been widely debated and scrutinized since Apple bought it in 2013 and leased it to GT Advanced Technologies, a glass manufacturing company. The company was projected to employ 700 workers, before declaring bankruptcy in late 2014.

Once the announcement was made for a command center in early 2015, it was reported that the 150-person workforce would relay a much smaller initial investment return than the Vermont-based company would have.

Although the initial amount of hires may have been less than hoped for, Giles said in an earlier interview with Phoenix Business Journal that having the massive company in the Valley is a selling point.

“Just having Apple’s name on the building is a game changer,” he said.