Editorial: Amazon's big paydays mean Pittsburgh paychecks

No one is making money during the coronavirus pandemic like Amazon.

While people were staying home amid lockdowns in recent months, the world’s largest retailer has been sitting pretty by filling the voids of in-person shopping.

Can’t run out and buy a new video game? Amazon can have it to you in two days. Can’t find toilet paper at your local supermarket? Amazon can send you a year’s supply at a generous markup. Decided to take up artisan candlemaking with your time at home? How much wax would you like overnighted and would you like wicks, too?

Want to know how good the pandemic has been for Amazon? On one Monday in July, Bloomberg reported Amazon stock took an 8% jump. That was good for everyone who has a little Amazon in their investment portfolio or their retirement fund. But if you were founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, one good day meant $13 billion.

That’s right. In one day, Bezos alone — not the whole company — made enough money to run Pennsylvania’s entire state government for about four months.

It’s the kind of number that can make you mad (“Nobody needs to make that much money!”) and envious (“Why don’t I make that much money?”) at the same time. But it’s just as important to look beyond the crazy math problem to the very practical economics lesson.

Supply and demand and innovation and perhaps a smidge of monopoly create more than just crazy wealth. It creates a lot of jobs, too.

When Pittsburgh was in the running for Amazon’s HQ2 in 2017-18, the possibilities were hotly debated. Some really wanted the business and some really didn’t want the headaches that would come with it. But jobs? People always wanted those, and it seemed like a great consolation prize when Pittsburgh was passed over but told that local facilities would be getting a healthy boost and more employment.

At the groundbreaking in October, the company planned 800 jobs for the fulfillment center. On Tuesday, those numbers were inflated. Instead, the million-square-foot facility in Findlay plus a new delivery station and a new warehouse will see 1,500 jobs. And the center will be up and running in time for the 2020 winter holiday shopping season.

“I certainly think Amazon likes doing business here and we’ll see more of this in the not too distant future,” Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said. “Even pre-covid days, these are the kind of jobs that we are looking for. It’s obviously a good opportunity for our people to get these jobs.”

There are already 16,000 Pennsylvanians working for Amazon. The 1,500 person increase represents almost a 10% spike. It’s not a $13 billion good day, but for a state struggling with pandemic-driven unemployment, it’s good news.