This creative rendering supplied by Amazon exhibits the subsequent part of the corporate’s headquarters renovation, which shall be inbuilt Arlington, Virginia. Amazon is suspending building of its second headquarters there following the largest collection of layoffs within the firm’s historical past and the altering panorama of distant work.
NBBJ/Amazon by way of hotspot
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NBBJ/Amazon by way of hotspot
This creative rendering supplied by Amazon exhibits the subsequent part of the corporate’s headquarters renovation, which shall be inbuilt Arlington, Virginia. Amazon is suspending building of its second headquarters there following the largest collection of layoffs within the firm’s historical past and the altering panorama of distant work.
NBBJ/Amazon by way of hotspot
NEW YORK — Amazon is halting building on its second Virginia headquarters following the largest collection of layoffs within the firm’s historical past and a shift within the distant work panorama.
The Seattle-based firm is suspending the beginning of building on PenPlace, the second part of its Northern Virginia headquarters, Amazon actual property chief John Schottler stated in a press release. He stated the corporate has already employed greater than 8,000 staff and can welcome them to the Met Park campus, the primary part of growth, when it opens this June.
“We’re at all times evaluating area plans to make sure they meet the wants of our enterprise and create an important worker expertise, and as Met Park can have area to accommodate over 14,000 staff, we’ve got determined to maneuver the pioneering work of PenPlace (HQ2 Section 2) a bit lagged behind,” Schottler stated.
He additionally emphasised that the corporate stays “dedicated to Arlington” and the native area that Amazon selected – together with New York – as the placement for its new headquarters a couple of years in the past. Initially, greater than 230 municipalities competed for the position of tasks. New York gained the competitors by promising practically $3 billion in tax breaks and grants, amongst different perks, however opposition from native politicians, union leaders and progressive activists pressured Amazon to scrap its plans.
In February 2021, Amazon stated it might construct an attention-grabbing 350-foot Helix tower to anchor the second part of its redevelopment plans in Arlington. As soon as accomplished, the brand new workplace towers had been anticipated to host greater than 25,000 employees. Amazon spokesman Zack Goldstein stated these plans haven’t modified and the pause in building shouldn’t be a results of or a sign of the corporate’s latest job cuts, which have affected 18,000 company staff.
Tech corporations are slicing jobs
The job cuts had been a part of a broader cost-cutting measure to chop a rising workforce amid sluggish gross sales and fears of a possible recession. Meta, Salesforce and different tech corporations, a lot of which have been hiring in bulk over the previous few years, are additionally slicing workers.
Amid job cuts, Amazon has urged its staff to return to the workplace. Final month, Amazon CEO Andy Jassi stated the corporate would require company staff to return to the workplace not less than three days every week, a departure from an earlier coverage that allowed executives to make calls about how their groups had been doing. The change, which is able to take impact Might 1, has sparked some resistance from staff who say they like to work remotely.
Goldstein stated the corporate plans to proceed what he referred to as preliminary constructing work in Virginia later this yr, together with submitting for permits. In line with him, the ultimate dates for the second part of the mission are nonetheless being decided. The corporate beforehand stated it plans to finish the mission by 2025.
