Amazon HQ2 was supposed to add jobs last year. It shed them instead

Overall framing

• Thread centers on whether Amazon’s HQ2 deals, and corporate subsidy bidding wars more generally, make sense for governments and local communities.
• Many see HQ2 outcomes as validating skepticism toward large, targeted subsidies; others argue lost opportunities for jobs and neighborhood investment.

Efficacy and fairness of corporate subsidies

• Strong sentiment that large, bespoke tax breaks are “legalized favoritism,” disadvantaging existing firms that pay full taxes.
• Several argue subsidies should be tightly regulated or broadly banned, similar to “unlawful state aid,” and at minimum be uniform and conditional on verified job/payroll metrics.
• Counterpoint: targeted subsidies can help distressed areas (e.g., a rural plant after a major employer leaves), but are wasteful in hot markets like NYC where demand is already high.

Amazon HQ2: New York vs. Virginia

• Many recall the public fight over the canceled New York HQ2, with some now viewing opposition as vindicated because Amazon expanded in NYC anyway without that specific package.
• Others note NYC still grants Amazon other tax breaks, and that HQ2 would have been larger, in Queens, and partly linked to local amenities and school upgrades that never materialized.
• Debate over gentrification: some highlight benefits for nearby public housing and jobs; others say LIC was already gentrifying and residents feared displacement.
• In Virginia, commenters stress the deal is job-based: per-job subsidies, rising salary thresholds, five‑year job duration requirements, and payments only if targets are met.
• Some locals are content: Amazon’s under-hiring means the state simply doesn’t pay, while infrastructure improvements proceed.

Corporate behavior, jobs, and real estate

• Observations that firms optimize profit, not employment; layoffs and hiring pauses are expected, especially after the pandemic, WFH shifts, and tech downturn.
• Anecdotes of “return to hub” policies possibly used to concentrate headcount in incentive-qualifying locations, at the cost of remote workers and local retention elsewhere.
• HQ2 is behind its job schedule but still has years to hit long-term targets; whether it will is seen as uncertain.

Alternative models and side debates

• Suggestions: profit-sharing and worker cooperatives, citizen “dividend” funds, and focusing subsidies on infrastructure that creates genuinely new trade or economic capacity.
• Film and sports subsidies: some see film credits as more tightly linked to real spending; others cite research that these, like stadium deals, often underdeliver economically.