Amazon bucks remote working trend with office expansion plan
Firm's investment in 3,500 jobs and 85,000 square-metres of office space goes against the industry push for remote working


Amazon will invest $1.4 billion (roughly £1.1 billion) in creating 3,500 jobs in the US in addition to opening approximately 85,000 square-metres of additional office space.
The new tech and corporate roles will be created across six of the firm’s tech hubs in major cities across the US, including Dallas, Detroit, Denver, New York, Phoenix, and San Diego.
Teams in these cities support a breadth of ventures across the company, including AWS, Alexa, advertising, and OpsTech, among other brands. The new roles will include positions such as cloud infrastructure architects, software engineers, data scientists, product managers and user experience designers.
"People from all walks of life come to Amazon to develop their careers–from recent graduates looking for a place to turn their ideas into high-impact products, to veterans accessing new jobs in cloud computing thanks to our upskilling programs," said Amazon’s senior vice president for human resources, Beth Galetti.
"These 3,500 new jobs will be in cities across the country with strong and diverse talent pools. We look forward to helping these communities grow their emerging tech workforce."
The physical expansion of Amazon’s tech hubs and corporate offices comes at a time when remote working has been championed as the best means of maintaining productivity and safety during the coronavirus crisis.
Several major tech companies have also committed to extending remote working through to July 2021 as a precautionary measure, including Google and Facebook, given the uncertain state of the pandemic in the US.
Get the ITPro daily newsletter
Sign up today and you will receive a free copy of our Future Focus 2025 report - the leading guidance on AI, cybersecurity and other IT challenges as per 700+ senior executives
RELATED RESOURCE
The workers' experience report
How technology can spark motivation, enhance productivity and strengthen security
Companies such as Facebook have also begun a transition to some degree of permanent remote working, with some jobs advertised in future set to be remote-only.
In committing to opening 905,000 square-feet (roughly 85,000 square-metres) of office space, Amazon has bucked this trend, instead suggesting it would take its cue from law enforcement agencies once its remote working policy expires in January.
The largest addition to Amazon’s workforce will be 2,000 new jobs in Manhattan, where Amazon plans to open 630,000 square-feet (approximately 59,000 square-metres) of new offices.
Dallas will see the next largest expansion, with an additional 100,000 square-feet (roughly 9,300 square-metres) of physical space, in addition to 600 tech and corporate roles.

Keumars Afifi-Sabet is a writer and editor that specialises in public sector, cyber security, and cloud computing. He first joined ITPro as a staff writer in April 2018 and eventually became its Features Editor. Although a regular contributor to other tech sites in the past, these days you will find Keumars on LiveScience, where he runs its Technology section.
-
RSAC Conference 2025: The front line of cyber innovation
ITPro Podcast Ransomware, quantum computing, and an unsurprising focus on AI were highlights of this year's event
-
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei thinks we're burying our heads in the sand on AI job losses
News With AI set to hit entry-level jobs especially, some industry execs say clear warning signs are being ignored
-
Microsoft workers face a fresh round of layoffs – here’s who could be impacted
News Microsoft will cut 6% of its workforce, equivalent to around 6,000 workers, as part of its latest cost-cutting drive.
-
‘If you want to look like a flesh-bound chatbot, then by all means use an AI teleprompter’: Amazon banned candidates from using AI tools during interviews – here’s why you should never use them to secure a job
News Amazon has banned the use of AI tools during the interview process – and it’s not the only major firm cracking down on the trend.
-
Amazon's RTO mandate could spark a talent exodus
News A survey of Amazon staff suggests plenty remain unhappy about returning to the office next year
-
Amazon's RTO mandate just hit a major roadblock – it doesn’t have enough office space
News The company has told staff in several locations that it won't have room for them all in time
-
“There are other companies around”: AWS CEO Matt Garman says employees pushing back on RTO mandates should quit
News AWS CEO Matt Garman says employees pushing back on RTO mandates should quit
-
Business execs just said the quiet part out loud on RTO mandates — A quarter admit forcing staff back into the office was meant to make them quit
News Companies know staff don't want to go back to the office, and that may be part of their plan with RTO mandates
-
Microsoft tells staff it won’t follow Amazon or Dell on enforcing a return to the office – but there’s a catch
News While other big tech companies are forcing reluctant workforces back into the office, Microsoft isn’t following suit
-
Amazon workers aren’t happy with the company’s controversial RTO scheme – and they’re making their voices heard
News An internal staff survey at Amazon shows many workers are unhappy about the prospect of a full return to the office