Amazon’s corporate employees seem rather peeved about being told to return to the office five days a week from January, according to a poll by Blind, an online forum for anonymous tech workers that have been verified by the platform.
A whopping 91% of 2,585 Amazon professionals surveyed by Blind said they were dissatisfied with the new back-to-the-office policy, which was announced last week in a memo from Amazon CEO Andy Jassy.
“RTO [return to office] blanket policy is crazy, particularly for those of us who were hired remote and FAR from an office — I have kids and family here so unwilling to relocate,” one of the survey’s participants commented in response to the new rule. “Even if I didn’t there’s too great a risk I’d be laid off in 6 months anyway so why risk a move?”
Amazon’s corporate employees have been allowed to come to the office a minimum of three days a week since June 2023, but evidently keen to bring to an end the hybrid working style that was adopted during the pandemic, Jassy told staff last week that he believes “the advantages of being together in the office are significant,” and that it’s time to return full-time.
“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 wrote in his memo, adding: “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.”
The CEO said the company would “help ensure a smooth transition” for those who have set up their personal lives in a way that means returning to the office full-time will require some adjustments, though it’s not yet clear how flexible Jassy and his top team will be regarding such matters.
Amazon isn’t the only tech giant that changed its working practices during the pandemic, with Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Meta among those that made similar moves. These firms currently expect their workers to show up at the office at least two or three days a week, though it will be interesting to see if any of them take Amazon’s lead and instruct their employees to return to their desks for the entire working week.
