Two more large U.S. companies, Walmart Inc. and Capital One, are locating tech hubs in Atlanta.
The moves come as major employers eye the metro area, citing its growing number of technology graduates from colleges like Georgia Tech and efforts to boost racial diversity in tech ranks.
Walmart’s Global Tech division will bring 140 jobs in fields such as data science and software engineering. It has not yet found office space.
“Atlanta is a major location for both Walmart and the cybersecurity industry, with growing strengths in software engineering, AI, machine learning and data science,” the giant retailer announced Tuesday morning. “The city’s talent pool is supported by strong local universities with the highest growth of tech graduates in the U.S.”
The announcement also noted Walmart is working with historically Black colleges and universities to increase participation of underrepresented groups, such as women and people of color. Walmart has tuition-help programs for employees with Atlanta’s Morehouse and Spelman colleges, and the city is one of the nation’s faster-growing tech hubs for minorities.
Atlanta will be Walmart’s 11th U.S. tech hub. Its jobs are posted on the Walmart website. The company says the workers will begin working virtually and transition to a hybrid work model as it looks for a space. It did not give a time frame.
Capital One said it will be hiring hundreds for engineer positions focused on cloud, data, machine learning and cybersecurity, as well as product managers. The financing company, which specializes in credit cards and car loans, said its 15,000 square foot office will be located in Ponce City Market in the Old Fourth Ward.
“Atlanta is a leading city for engineering jobs and tech startups, and we are excited to grow our presence in the region with this new space,” said Todd Kennedy, and excutive vice president. “As we grow our team, our teams will focus on building products, services and experiences that can make a real difference in millions of people’s lives.”
Atlanta has cemented its place as an emerging second-tier tech hub behind the giants such as Silicon Valley, Boston and New York City. It is home to some of the nation’s fastest-growing startups such as OneTrust, Greenlight, Banyan Software and LeaseQuery, according to Deloitte’s 2021 North American Technology Fast 500.
The city has also attracted or opened a number of investment firms, such as Panoramic Ventures, in recent years, a key for growing startups. Some founders of homegrown tech companies have cashed out recently, such as the $12 billion sale of mail services and marketing firm Mailchimp and the $2.2 billion sale of financial services company GreenSky in 2021.
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