Amazon has announced a stricter return-to-office policy starting next year, requiring employees to work from company offices five days per week, a change from the company’s previous three-day hybrid model.
The e-commerce giant’s CEO, Andy Jassy, shared the update in a letter to employees, posted on Amazon’s website, noting the necessity of in-person work for “invention, collaboration, and connection.”
Jassy noted that the three-day requirement had strengthened Amazon’s belief in the benefits of in-office work, leading to the decision to fully bring employees back. This move places Amazon in a more stringent position compared to other tech companies, many of which continue to allow remote or hybrid work post-pandemic.
Since the pandemic, companies have adopted more flexible work models, with cities like San Francisco and Seattle seeing nearly empty offices. However, Amazon is bucking the trend, pushing for a complete return to office life. Some employees, as reported by Reuters, have been asked to commute long distances or even relocate to Seattle to keep their jobs. Workers who failed to comply with the previous three-day mandate were told they had “voluntarily resigned” and were locked out of the company’s systems.
Amazon’s mandate has been met with resistance from some employees, particularly those who value the cost and time savings of working from home. Last May, workers at Amazon’s Seattle headquarters staged a walkout protesting several company policies, including the return-to-office requirement and Amazon’s climate policies.
The company is also undergoing organisational restructuring, seeking to increase the ratio of individual contributors to managers by 15% by the end of Q1 2025. The Q&A shared with employees indicated potential role eliminations, though further details were not provided.
Additionally, Amazon is discontinuing its program that allowed employees to work from anywhere for up to four months a year.
