Amazon’s return-to-office plans spark concern and debate among employees
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Amazon.com’s decision to require its corporate staff members to be in the office every weekday sparked frustration among employees and curiosity among executives at other companies interested in seeing worker reaction. Some at Amazon said they were surprised and disappointed.
On social-media sites, employees complained about added commute times. Others were fine with the change, saying they were already in the office at least four days a week. “People are not happy about it," said one Amazon software engineer in an interview on Tuesday.
“It seems unreasonable and stands against data that people are still productive out of the office." Amazon’s new office policy marks a significant shift for a tech industry where most employers have embraced hybrid work. Only 7% of large tech companies require employees to be in the office five days a week, compared with 33% for all U.S. companies, according to Flex Index, a software firm that tracks return-to-office efforts.
Tech companies have often spearheaded major shifts in office policies during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. In addition to the new return-to-office norms, Amazon said Monday that it might be thinning out its management staff. In an internal memo to employees, Amazon left open the possibility that some positions might be eliminated as it restructured its departments to have fewer managers per team.
“It’s possible that organizations may identify roles that are no longer required," the internal memo said. Critics fear the moves may allow Amazon to shrink its workforce without official layoffs. Amazon said its return-to-office rules are separate from its restructuring plans.
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