this post was submitted on 24 Jul 2023
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They bought a ton of real estate over the years.
Then places like Seattle were literally falling a part without the added cash cow of commuters stuck in bumper to bumper traffic for 16 hours of a workday.
And that commercial real estate is the backing for a LOT of corporate debt. I imagine they're afraid of the collateral against which that debt was borrowed collapsing in value.
Why is that a concern for amazon?
They already know wfh is as good or even better for productivity. This doesn’t see like a move in their best interest
Seattle was not "literally falling a part".
https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/rise-in-remote-work-takes-toll-on-some-of-seattles-small-businesses/281-b6565c30-3cca-4f14-93ab-a312055cffa3
https://www.seattletimes.com/business/coming-in-or-staying-home-seattle-workers-agree-pre-covid-office-is-gone/
https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/thousands-amazon-workers-returning-offices-after-3-years-working-home/CAGW2XKMBBF7TO3RIZMQUWXWDE/
https://sdotblog.seattle.gov/2020/06/24/2020-project-pause-en/
It did survive and survived better than others: https://www.seattletimes.com/business/seattle-fared-better-than-expected-in-the-pandemic-economy/
But theres no pussyfooting about it. Shit was bad and we are still in a hard recovery from it. Almost like our cities are suffering from their own form of Long Covid.