Walgreens is doubling down on Chicago tech, literally.
The company announced on Tuesday that it plans to double its downtown Chicago office, adding 300 tech positions. These roles will be filled with a combination of new hires and relocations from the company’s Deerfield support office.
“We are excited to bring more technology jobs to the city of Chicago and establish a technology center of excellence that will focus on delivering state-of-the-art systems to our more than 8,000 drugstores nationwide,” said Walgreens president Alex Gourlay.
Walgreens is currently expanding its downtown Chicago office, located inside the Sullivan Center, to make room for the new technology center. According to Crain's, the company's office will grow by 27,000 square feet.
“Expanding our downtown presence will help us retain and attract the best talent to continue developing our digital and technology capabilities,” Gourlay added.
The new center will host a majority of the company’s retail pharmacy technology team. Walgreens' downtown office is currently home to the company's digital, mobile and e-commerce technology teams.
Walgreens made the announcement alongside Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who has made a priority of expanding the city’s tech sector.
“Chicago and Walgreens have a long and shared history of innovation and ingenuity,” Emanuel said in a statement. “That history makes Chicago the perfect city for Walgreens to locate 300 jobs and make an investment in its future.”
Walgreens’ announcement comes hot on the heels of Facebook’s office expansion, which could bring up to 500 new jobs to Chicago. It also comes on the same day the city submitted its pitch for Amazon second headquarters.
Image via Shutterstock.
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