The largest employer bringing workers back to the heart of the city should send a clear message to other employers (private and public) that it’s time to return. After all, Amazon is a company constantly analyzing data for every move it makes, and it has determined that being in-person for at least three days per week is a sound strategy
Amazon rides to the rescue of Seattle’s ailing downtown
"Deciding to examine Amazon’s return to its South Lake Union and Denny Triangle offices myself, I found a scene outside reminiscent of Seattle around 2016.
Employees were catching up with people they hadn’t seen since the pandemic emptied offices. Plenty were wearing jackets and jeans and carrying backpacks, but suits and dresses were also there. Long lines of cars went into all the parking garages, and shuttle buses came, too.
At least 300 people were having lunch from the restaurants there Tuesday. It was pleasant outside, the perfect environment for “creative friction,” a term that describes the sharing of ideas and spontaneous innovation that can’t be found with remote work. Employees and dogs enjoyed the festive parks. A nearby nail salon was booked solid. Outdoor areas offered comfortable and colorful furniture and a playground/art installation Los Trompos (merry go rounds).
If anyone was unhappy about the three-day-a-week mandate, it didn’t show.
I mention 2016, because that was when Seattle was unquestionably Amazon’s global headquarters, building out to 50,000 well-paid jobs. The antipathy from the City Council majority hadn’t driven the corporation to seek a “full, equal” HQ2 or plan to move thousands of jobs to lower-tax, “business friendly” Bellevue. Two mayors failed to have a constructive relationship — or one at all — with the city’s largest employer.
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