Apple on Monday announced plans to open a new campus in the Raleigh, North Carolina area. The company will spend over $1 billion on the campus, eventually employing 3,000 software engineers and machine learning employees.
The campus is a sign of Apple’s continued expansion beyond its headquarters in Cupertino, California, where most of its engineering has been based. Apple’s $1 billion campus in Austin, Texas, is expected to open next year.
Apple joins other Silicon Valley technology companies that are expanding outside the Bay Area to gain access to a wider pool of engineering talent and in response to high housing prices and other costs of living in the region.
Apple also said Monday it was rapidly expanding in other cities where it has engineering operations. It plans to employ 5,000 people in San Diego, 3,000 people in Culver City in Los Angeles, and 700 in Boulder, Colorado, by 2026. Apple also said it employs 1,000 people in Seattle, and plans to double that. In total, Apple said it plans to add 20,000 jobs in the U.S. over the next five years.
Still, Apple will continue to be based in Silicon Valley, where it has about 25,000 employees, including 12,000 employees in its loop-shaped headquarters.
MacDailyNews Note: North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper said in a statement today, “Apple’s decision to build a new campus in Wake County showcases many of best things about North Carolina — our world-class universities, tech-ready workforce and welcoming communities that make our state one a great place to live and work.”