Amazon Orders Employees to Return to the Office

Photo: AP

Amazon’s recent push to bring corporate staff back to the office has sparked considerable tension within the company, which employs over 1.5 million people worldwide in both full-time and part-time roles. This move marks a significant shift from the flexible remote work policies instituted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last year, employees at Amazon’s Seattle headquarters staged a protest against the tightening of remote work allowances. This protest resulted in the dismissal of the organizer, leading to allegations of unfair retaliation. The matter has since been escalated to labor officials for review.

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In a recent statement, Andy Jassy, who succeeded Jeff Bezos as Amazon’s CEO in 2021, expressed concerns that the company's corporate culture was being diluted by remote work and increasing bureaucracy. Jassy highlighted the need for a more connected and collaborative environment, which he believes can be achieved through a full return to office-based work. To address issues related to bureaucratic inefficiencies, Jassy announced the creation of a "bureaucracy mailbox" for staff to submit complaints about unnecessary rules. Additionally, he revealed plans to reorganize managerial structures so that supervisors oversee larger teams, a move that could potentially lead to job cuts.

Amazon has outlined its new office policy, which mandates that employees return to the office five days a week. The company will also implement hot-desking practices in the U.S. Staff will still be permitted to work from home in exceptional circumstances, such as dealing with a sick child or a household emergency, but otherwise, the expectation is that employees will work in the office unless an exemption is granted.

The debate over remote work has been ongoing since the pandemic, which saw a peak in remote working arrangements. Although many companies began recalling employees to the office in 2022, the return has not been uniform. As of this summer, around 12% of full-time employees in the U.S. were working entirely remotely, with an additional 27% following hybrid work policies, according to a survey conducted by economists Jose Maria Barrero, Nicholas Bloom, and Steven J. Davis.

Prominent figures such as JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon have been vocal critics of remote work, advocating for a full-time office presence. This sentiment is not isolated to banking, as companies like UPS and Dell have also mandated a return to office work this year.

Despite Jassy's assertion that Amazon's shift to a hybrid model reinforced the benefits of in-person work, Professor Nicholas Bloom from Stanford University believes the trend is not indicative of a broader shift in work policies. He notes that, based on his research, time spent in the office has remained relatively stable over the past year. Bloom suggests that while high-profile companies may be canceling remote work arrangements, others are expanding their remote work policies, though these changes often go unnoticed in media coverage.