With Austin continuing to be considered one of the best places to live and work in the United States, it’s not surprising that we saw another record year for company relocations and expansions.
When I wrote this article last year, I was impressed with the number of jobs the Austin market was able to add despite the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic presented. Now, we are yet again excited to see that the Austin market has replicated that impressive growth and continues to attract companies looking to grow in Austin or establish a presence here for the first time.
Companies that came to Austin or grew in Austin in 2021
Growth of industries in Austin in 2021
New headquarters in Austin in 2021
Companies That Came to Austin or Grew in Austin in 2021
Austin had another record year for job creation according to the Austin Chamber, with 24,535 jobs attributed to companies either growing their presence in Austin or relocating to Austin for the first time as of November 2021 (note that these are job announcements, not necessarily jobs hired for, in 2021). For reference, 21,495 jobs were tracked in 2020 and 11,478 jobs were tracked in 2019.
Of the jobs created in 2021, 15,981 (65%) were classified as expansions and 7,794 (35%) were classified as new to the area.
Tesla once again made it to the top of this list, indicating a need for an additional 5,000 jobs on top of the 5,000 that were attributed to the automotive giant in 2020. Amazon also came in high on this year’s list, with 2,000 jobs for its San Marcos fulfillment center. In addition, Samsung’s announcement that it will be building a $17 billion, 2,000-job semiconductor fabrication facility in Taylor was another major milestone for job creation in the Austin area.
Companies That Created the Most Jobs in Austin in 2021
Along with the specific companies creating these jobs, we also wanted to look into which Austin industries would be receiving them. To do this, we assigned each company one of six primary industries. Keep in mind that some of these designations could be debatable, as some companies are difficult to classify and could fall into multiple groups. (Amazon is an e-commerce company, but couldn’t it also be classified as a tech company and a logistics powerhouse?)
Industries That Created the Most Jobs in Austin in 2021
As you can see, the majority of jobs are headed for the tech industry, with the automotive industry coming in at a close second thanks to Tesla. Manufacturing and logistics companies also created a significant number of jobs this year, which is not surprising considering Austin’s industrial market has had potentially its best year in history. Amazon’s e-commerce jobs (which, as mentioned, could maybe be classified as logistics) also made up a significant portion of that industry’s growth this year.
New Headquarters in Austin in 2021
One interesting piece of information that we’ve never written about before is the sheer volume of headquarters designations on the Chamber’s list. Of the 182 records tracked on the list, 120 (66%) were marked as headquarters. This is an amazing number that highlights Austin’s ability to not only attract companies but the leadership teams of those companies as well.
Tesla’s announcement that it would be moving its headquarters to Austin was undoubtedly the largest headquarters relocation this year, and seven of the top 10 companies in the bar graph above currently have or will have a headquarters here. Companies labeled as having headquarters in Austin accounted for 16,845 (69%) of the 24,535 jobs tracked this year.
Conclusion
From its quality of living to its real estate market and job prospects, Austin continues to impress every step of the way. It’s difficult to imagine how things could get any better, but we have no doubt that Austin will find a way and we look forward to seeing what 2022 has in store.
