2,000 Amazon employees move into HQ2 during first week

About 2,000 employees moved into the first open tower at Amazon.com Inc.’s $2.5 billion HQ2 East Coast headquarters in Arlington this week.

Floors 1-14 of Merlin, one of Amazon’s two 22-story office towers in Metropolitan Park, the first phase of HQ2, opened Monday. The tech giant anticipates opening the remaining floors in phases, likely two floors at a time, with plans to have the 15th floor open before the end of June. The company has hired 8,000 employees locally so far.

“On the first day, in the afternoon, people were bringing their kids in and their partners, I think to show off [the building],” said Rachael Lighty, Amazon’s head of public relations for policy and HQ2.

Amazon expects to have roughly 1,000 to 2,000 more employees move in by teams each week. The lower floors of HQ2’s second building, dubbed Jasper, should be completed in the next 30 to 40 days, around the end of June, according to Holly Sullivan, Amazon’s vice president of economic development and public policy. By the end of September or early October, all HQ2 teams will be invited into the towers’ 2.1 million square feet.

Under its current office policy, Amazon is “encouraging” employees to come into the office at least three days a week, but vice presidents set office policies for their teams.

HQ2 will house a variety of teams, including devices, Amazon Web Services and corporate functions like finance, legal, public policy, communications and corporate facilities teams.

“It is truly a headquarters. We have that diversity of roles within HQ2,” Sullivan said.

Met Park’s two towers can house more than 14,500 employees. Despite beginning large-scale layoffs in November 2022, Amazon has remained firm on its commitment to create 25,000 jobs at HQ2 by 2030. The global e-tailer said in March that it was delaying HQ2’s second phase, PenPlace, but has been resolute that the delay is not a cancellation: “Our commitment remains unchanged,” Sullivan said.

Met Park will house 14 ground-floor retailers and also includes a 2.5-acre public park with walking paths, a children’s playground and a dog walk, as well as a dog park that will open once grass has firmly taken root.