San Francisco, March 5 : As it cuts costs across the verticals amid the ongoing economic meltdown, Amazon has now halted construction of its second headquarters in the US.

Called 'HQ2', the second headquarters of the ecommerce company is being built in the state of Virginia (its first HQ is in Seattle, Washington State).

John Schoettler, Amazon's real estate head, said in a statement the company is pushing out the groundbreaking of PenPlace, the second phase of the sprawling northern Virginia campus, reports CNBC.

'We're always evaluating space plans to make sure they fit our business needs and to create a great experience for employees, and since Met Park will have space to accommodate more than 14,000 employees, we've decided to shift the groundbreaking of PenPlace (the second phase of HQ2) out a bit,' Schoettler said.

The first phase of the campus is expected to open on time in June this year, that will house 8,000 employees.