Negative job growth at Amazon HQ2

[Anonymous]

The Washington Post is reporting that Amazon shed 200 jobs at HQ2 in 2023 instead of adding 2500.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2024/04/16/amazon-hq2-jobs-arlington-virginia/

Whenever people on here talk about how great NoVA is, they always bring up Amazon, but I guess that's not working out so well.

[Anonymous]

I haven’t been following the news much over the past several years. Is it possible that there was some some major global event like a pandemic that disrupted Amazon’s growth forecasts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I haven’t been following the news much over the past several years. Is it possible that there was some some major global event like a pandemic that disrupted Amazon’s growth forecasts?

lol this was for 2023 and amazon stock is now at an all-time high

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I haven’t been following the news much over the past several years. Is it possible that there was some some major global event like a pandemic that disrupted Amazon’s growth forecasts?

lol this was for 2023 and amazon stock is now at an all-time high

Not everything is lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I haven’t been following the news much over the past several years. Is it possible that there was some some major global event like a pandemic that disrupted Amazon’s growth forecasts?

What pandemic?

[Anonymous]

Amazon could sleepwalk into adding 2500 jobs tomorrow if they wanted to. this is really a nothingburger. especially since Arlington has paid Amazon a grand total of 0 dollars so far

[Anonymous]

When is a gift not a gift?
- Baron Harkonnen aka Jeff Bezos

[Anonymous]

Amazon is letting go far more than that...

[Anonymous]

I always knew we should have put in a couple mom and pop shops. That's all the growth anyone needs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Amazon could sleepwalk into adding 2500 jobs tomorrow if they wanted to. this is really a nothingburger. especially since Arlington has paid Amazon a grand total of 0 dollars so far

This. Arlington negotiated a decent deal on their part. Incentives tied to clear and verifiable metrics. X number of workers filing W2 on-site making $Y/year adjusted for inflation. If Amazon doesn't deliver it isn't the end of much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Amazon could sleepwalk into adding 2500 jobs tomorrow if they wanted to. this is really a nothingburger. especially since Arlington has paid Amazon a grand total of 0 dollars so far

"Hey Prince William County, don't worry that a data center will only add 10 new jobs because we could add 50,000 jobs tomorrow if we wanted to."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Amazon could sleepwalk into adding 2500 jobs tomorrow if they wanted to. this is really a nothingburger. especially since Arlington has paid Amazon a grand total of 0 dollars so far

This. Arlington negotiated a decent deal on their part. Incentives tied to clear and verifiable metrics. X number of workers filing W2 on-site making $Y/year adjusted for inflation. If Amazon doesn't deliver it isn't the end of much.

This is inaccurate. Arlington and Alexandria committed to $570 million in HQ2 specific infrastructure investments and 100% of the property taxes for 10 years are dedicated to TIF for improvements directly around HQ2. Not to mention the committed to building a VT campus at Potomac Yard. All of this money was committed with the idea that HQ2 would generate significantly more revenue and would have otherwise been spent on different priorities.

[Anonymous]

Amazon, like all of the big tech companies, went on a hiring spree during Covid and now they’re actively trying to lay off workers. It’s not because they’re not profitable. It’s because they’re a giant greedy corporation. They have a certain number of people every year they WANT to shed, and that number is too low because hiring is low across all of the tech sector right now. That’s part of why they got so serious about RTO. It was partially because of the things the promised Virginia but also partially to hopefully get people to quit. I know of people who were hired out of state and told they’d never need to come into the office and now they are literally flying in for 3 days at a time to badge in. It’s not about success—just the usual corporate greed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Amazon, like all of the big tech companies, went on a hiring spree during Covid and now they’re actively trying to lay off workers. It’s not because they’re not profitable. It’s because they’re a giant greedy corporation. They have a certain number of people every year they WANT to shed, and that number is too low because hiring is low across all of the tech sector right now. That’s part of why they got so serious about RTO. It was partially because of the things the promised Virginia but also partially to hopefully get people to quit. I know of people who were hired out of state and told they’d never need to come into the office and now they are literally flying in for 3 days at a time to badge in. It’s not about success—just the usual corporate greed.

Covid hiring is one part. The other part is interest rates. Many tech companies relied on funding fueled by the low interest rate environment. Now that it's gone their funding has dropped, forcing tech companies to shed expenses. The mass layoffs in the tech sector gave Amazon cover to follow suit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Amazon could sleepwalk into adding 2500 jobs tomorrow if they wanted to. this is really a nothingburger. especially since Arlington has paid Amazon a grand total of 0 dollars so far

This. Arlington negotiated a decent deal on their part. Incentives tied to clear and verifiable metrics. X number of workers filing W2 on-site making $Y/year adjusted for inflation. If Amazon doesn't deliver it isn't the end of much.

Boy you guys were celebrating when they announced the plans. Listening to you being all blasé about it now like you don’t care is hilarious.