American online retailer Amazon.com Inc is suspending construction of six new office buildings in Nashville, Tennessee and Bellevue, Washington, amid the conversion of the workspace for a hybrid type of work, when employees work both from the office and from at home.

Amazon said in a statement that the company is postponing plans to build traditional office space in an effort to create more spaces for employees to socialize.

ECONOMY
Apple tops the list of the most valuable brands in the world, replacing Amazon
June 15, 2022
Apple tops the list of the most valuable brands in the world, replacing Amazon
Read more
Some companies are trying to make offices more attractive to employees, especially those who have chosen to work remotely for more than two years since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

„Like many companies, we’re still trying to figure out how these new habits might affect our office lives,” said John Shettler, vice president of real estate at Amazon.

Amazon said in a statement that construction on six new office buildings will be put on hold after the lobbies and exteriors are completed. The company has not set a time frame.

Amazon in 2018 announced its intention to create an operations center in Nashville, which will employ 5,000 highly paid employees. The company said the decision to halt construction of the buildings would not affect these jobs, as well as the 25,000 positions the company promised to create in Bellevue.

Amazon shares are up 1.3% in early trading on Monday.