Amazon moves workers from a Seattle office in crime-hit area

The Amazon Spheres remains mostly closed to visitors on March 10, 2022 in Seattle, Washington. Most Amazon workers continue to work remotely, and the visitors center remains closed to the public. — AFP

Amazon.com Inc is temporarily removing workers from a downtown Seattle office so employees don’t have to travel to an area that’s seen a spate of shootings, carjackings and other violent crimes.

“Given recent incidents near 3rd and Pine, we’re providing employees currently at that location with alternative office space elsewhere,” an Amazon spokesman said in an emailed statement. “We are hopeful that conditions will improve and that we will be able to bring employees back to this location when it is safe to do so.”

The office at 300 Pine St. is about three blocks from Pike Place Market, a popular Seattle tourist destination. Since Feb 21, there have been at least three shootings, two stabbings and one carjacking in the area, according to information from the Seattle Police Department’s Twitter account.

Last week, Mayor Bruce Harrell, flanked by law enforcement and local prosecutorial officials, talked about cracking down on crime in city “hot spots”, including the blocks around the Amazon office. Harrell said he would put a mobile police precinct at 3rd Avenue and Pine Street.

About 1,800 Amazon employees are assigned to the office, which occupies several floors above an old Macy’s department store, but many of them had been working remotely due to the pandemic, according to the company. The office is about a half-mile from its main headquarters on Seventh Avenue. – Bloomberg