Amazon pauses construction on 2nd headquarters in Virginia
NEW YORK –
Amazon is pausing development of its second headquarters in Virginia following the most important spherical of layoffs within the firm’s historical past and shifting panorama of distant work.
The Seattle-based firm is delaying the start of development of PenPlace, the second part of its headquarters improvement in Northern Virginia, stated John Schoettler, Amazon’s actual property chief, in an announcement. He stated the corporate has already employed greater than 8,000 workers and can welcome them to the Met Park campus, the primary part of improvement, when it opens this June.
“We’re always evaluating space plans to make sure they fit our business needs and to create a great experience for employees, and since Met Park will have space to accommodate more than 14,000 employees, we’ve decided to shift the groundbreaking of PenPlace (the second phase of HQ2) out a bit,” Schoettler stated.
He additionally emphasised the corporate stays “committed to Arlington” and the native area, which Amazon picked – together with New York City – to be the positioning of its new headquarters a number of years in the past. More than 230 municipalities had initially competed to deal with the tasks. New York received the competitors by promising practically $3 billion in tax breaks and grants, amongst different advantages, however opposition from native politicians, labour leaders and progressive activists led Amazon to scrap its plans there.
In February 2021, Amazon stated it could construct an attention-grabbing, 350-foot Helix tower to anchor the second part of its redevelopment plans in Arlington. The new workplace towers have been anticipated to welcome greater than 25,000 employees when full. Amazon spokesperson Zach Goldsztejn stated these plans have not modified and the development pause just isn’t a consequence – or indicative of – the corporate’s newest job cuts, which affected 18,000 company workers.
The job cuts have been a part of a broader cost-cutting transfer to trim down its rising workforce amid extra sluggish gross sales and fears of a possible recession. Meta, Salesforce and different tech corporations — lots of which had gone on hiring binges previously few years — have additionally been trimming their workforce.
Amid the job cuts, Amazon has urged its workers to come back again to the workplace. Last month, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy stated the corporate would require company workers to return to the workplace no less than three days per week, a shift from from the prior coverage that allowed leaders to make the decision on how their groups labored. The change, which can be efficient on May 1, has ignited some pushback from workers who say they like to work remotely.
Goldsztejn stated the corporate is anticipating to maneuver ahead with what he referred to as pre-construction work on the development in Virginia later this 12 months, together with making use of for permits. He stated remaining timing for the second part of the mission continues to be being decided. The firm had beforehand stated it deliberate to finish the mission by 2025.
