It would seem that the working conditions of Amazon employees in Seattle are not optimal to ensure their safety. It has nothing to do with Covid-19 or company policy regarding the conditions in which employees operate. No, crime is skyrocketing in the neighborhood where Jeff’s firm’s offices are located Bezos. A problem for the company which has decided to take measures to protect its Seattle teams.
When Seattle becomes Gotham City
Indeed, in 2018, Amazon invested in a former department store in downtown Seattle to install 1,800 employees just one kilometer from the headquarters. However, for the past few weeks, the city seems to have turned into Gotham. In 2021, Seattle had to dealing with an upsurge in crime on its streets without reaching the historic rates that it was able to know in the 80s and 90s.
At the beginning of the month, a 15-year-old boy was shot and killed. Earlier in the year, an Amazon engineer was attacked with a baseball bat although it was close to the city center. Downtown neighborhoods also experienced a series of shootings. Local authorities estimate that gun violence has increased by 40%. Such violence in particular pushes the wall street journal to declare that “lawlessness hinders Seattle’s economic recovery“.
Avoid the area for your safety
In front of this situation, Amazon, like many other companies based in the city center, made a decision to best protect its employees working there. Thus, a company spokesperson announced in a press release that “given the recent incidents, we offer employees who currently work at this location to work elsewhere. We hope conditions improve and that we will be able to get employees back to this location when it is safe to do so..”
Of course, this does not concern the 1,800 employees who work at the corner of 3rd Avenue and Pine Street. Many are still working from home following the pandemic. Other businesses in downtown Seattle have also decided to keep their teams and customers safe by closing the offices earlier to allow them to return home before dark or by hiring private security guards.
For its part, the municipality, through its mayor, Bruce Harrell, said public safety was top priority. The Chief of Police announced thatan initiative will be put in place to curb this violent behavior in Seattle.