Amazon looks to break office leases, shedding $1.3B in expenses

Amazon is one of the most prominent office tenants in the country, so when the technology behemoth plans to shed space, landlords pay close attention.

The company is looking to reduce its office vacancies, Business Insider reported, citing sources and an internal document. Amazon expects to save approximately $1.3 billion by cutting down on vacancies, which it intends to do by not renewing leases, terminating others early and ending the use of some floors.

Amazon’s office vacancy rate is 33.8 percent, according to Insider. That’s expected to drop to 25 percent this year and all the way down to 10 percent in the next three to five years. The vacancy level is attributed to the company’s slowing growth and layoffs; 160 jobs were cut this week in advertising alone.

A spokesperson for Amazon told the publication that the company regularly reviews its real estate portfolio.

“To suggest that this is about anything else — such as our expectations for working in the office — is at best a misunderstanding and at worst intentionally misleading,” the spokesperson added.

Amazon has also been pushing to relocate employees to central hubs, which would allow it to reduce space at non-essential locations. The company mandates employees to be in the office at least three days a week and has pressured remote employees to move closer to central offices.

More than 30,000 employees signed an internal petition pushing back against Amazon’s return-to-office policy, only for leadership to reject the petition.

In November, it was reported that the e-commerce giant was seeking about 50,000 square feet of office space in Miami-Dade County, shortly after founder Jeff Bezos relocated to the area from Seattle.

The company took Austin’s second-largest office lease last year, when it signed for 102,000 square feet at Domain 8, a modern office tower owned by Cousins Properties.

— Holden Walter-Warner