As part of The Home Depot’s three-year strategic investment plan — priced at a humble $11.1 billion — the company announced this week its plans to hire 1,000 tech professionals, including 500 in Austin.
The uptick in hiring will occur across The Home Depot’s corporate technology centers, stationed in Atlanta, Dallas and Austin.
“With the rapidly changing retail environment, this is easily one of the most exciting places to work in technology,” said Matt Carey, EVP and CIO of The Home Depot, in a statement. “Our team is building some of the most advanced software anywhere to help customers shop whenever, wherever and however they want.”
The company first revealed its $11.1 billion investment plan at the end of 2017, aiming to support enhancements to its omnichannel shopping experiences. While this initiative includes upgrades to traditional in-store shopping, a majority of it is software based — hence their call for developers, UX designers and product managers — to strengthen its e-commerce and logistics platforms.
Our team is building some of the most advanced software anywhere to help customers shop whenever, wherever and however they want.”
According to a post this week from The Home Depot, the company’s existing tech teams author up to 90 percent of the code behind its web- and mobile-based solutions. This stat, along with an expanding catalog of order fulfillment applications, smart product offerings and investments in renewable energy, helped The Home Depot earn a spot on last year’s 50 Most Innovative Companies by Fast Company.
Locally, The Home Depot opened a corporate tech and data center in North Austin in 2005, which is in addition to its six home improvement stores within Austin city limits. Then, in 2012, The Home Depot acquired Austin startup BlackLocus to develop pricing automation tools exclusively for the big box retailer. Since the acquisition, BlackLocus continues to operate locally as an innovation lab consisting of data scientists, engineers and business intelligence analysts.
The Home Depot’s hiring plans follow Walmart’s opening of a new Austin tech hub in February. As of publication, the company has more than 40 Austin tech positions open.
