Get back to the office, Amazon tells its workers

Amazon has told its corporate employees to come to the office five days a week starting in January as it seeks to finally end the hybrid working style that was adopted as a result of the pandemic.

Office workers at the web giant have been allowed to come to the office three days a week since June 2023, but Amazon CEO Andy Jassy told them in a message posted online that he believes “the advantages of being together in the office are significant” and he therefore wants to return to how things were.

“We’ve observed that it’s easier for our teammates to learn, model, practice, and strengthen our culture; collaborating, brainstorming, and inventing are simpler and more effective; teaching and learning from one another are more seamless; and teams tend to be better connected to one another,” Jassy said in his message.

He added: “If anything, the last 15 months we’ve been back in the office at least three days a week has strengthened our conviction about the benefits.”

Jassy acknowledged that some employees “may have set up their personal lives in such a way that returning to the office consistently five days per week will require some adjustments,” and with that in mind, and to “help ensure a smooth transition,” workers won’t have to return five days a week until January 2, giving them ample time to make any necessary changes to their current living/working arrangements.

Some Amazon staff took to the company’s internal messaging channels to voice discontent at the new policy, according to the New York Times, with one describing it as “very depressing and demotivating to say the least,” and another suggesting it made it harder for Amazon to continue with its stated goal to become “Earth’s best employer.”

Workers who push back against the change could find it impacts career advancement opportunities, as Amazon itself hinted at toward the end of last year.

Other tech giants such as Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Meta currently expect their workers to show up at the office two or three days a week. Time will tell if Amazon’s decision to get everyone back to the office full-time will encourage any of the other companies to announce a similar move.