Amazon halts construction on second HQ in Virginia

Online retail giant Amazon has indefinitely stopped construction on its planned second headquarters building in northern Virginia.

The company estimated that the facility would bring 25,000 jobs to Arlington, Va., and has already hired 8,000 workers for the site, according to the Washington Times. The firm insists it remains committed to completing the project and that the "first phase" opening remains on schedule.

"We’ve decided to shift the groundbreaking of PenPlace (the second phase of HQ2) out a bit. Our second headquarters has always been a multi-year project, and we remain committed to Arlington, Virginia, and the greater Capital Region," Amazon real estate chief John Schoettler said Friday.

A spokesperson for Amazon indicated the construction would again move forward later in 2023 but that the final completion date remained unclear. Amazon originally aimed to complete construction in 2025.

The announcement follows considerable layoffs at Amazon earlier this year that affected more than 17,000 employees.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.