By Eric Jay Toll | Phoenix Business Journal
The wisps of iCloud over Mesa are filled with solid silver linings. More than 300 additional workers – up to as many as 500, will be added to the 150 Apple Computer executive-level positions planned for Apple’s Mesa Command Center.
Apple CFO Luca Maestri and other top executives told Mesa Mayor John Giles in Cupertino, California, last week the now firm plans for its East Valley facility are better news than the speculation earlier this year. The 1.2 million-square-foot Apple Mesa data center will be led by a small contingent of Apple executives moving to the Silicon Desert from Silicon Valley. The remaining executive, leadership and engineering staff will be hired from local talent.
The additional 300- to 500-person workforce will start as contract workers for Apple, and virtually all are expected to be local hires. Giles said that Apple executives reminded him that the first round of hiring in Austin totaled 150 people.
