It’s back to the office for Amazon employees. As of January, the company is ending its hybrid working policy which allowed staff to work from home 2 days a week. The company employs 1.5 million people, with hundreds of thousands in corporate office based roles. The announcement is set to ruffle feathers among the company’s workers. The move is expected to be met with anger from employees. The company has already dealt with protests over attempts to reduce the remote working options that were set up during the Covid pandemic.

The benefits of remote working have been debated since the end of the pandemic. While some reports claim that working from home increases productivity as workers benefit from a greater work/life balance, many bosses have been sceptical. Since 2022, when the pandemic eased, many companies have demanded their staff come back to the office. A recent survey by economists Jose Maria Barrero, Nicholas Bloom, and Steven J David found that 12% of full time US employees worked fully remotely and a further 27% enjoyed hybrid work policies.

Last year, after Amazon tried to reduce the full remote allowance, staff in Seattle staged a protest which resulted in its leader being fired, (an action that is currently the subject of a labour dispute over claims of unfair retaliation.

However, in his announcement today, Amazon boss Andy Jassy was clear claiming that remote working was ‘diluting’ the company’s corporate culture and that the return to pre-pandemic working practices would make employees ‘better set up to invent, collaborate, and be connected enough to each other.’ He also warned the changes could lead to job cuts as managers were asked to reorganise their departments. The change also includes the return of designated workspaces. Jassy also said he had created a ‘bureaucracy mailbox’ for staff to make complaints. Exceptions will be made in unusual circumstances, such as illness or house emergency, but without an exemption, the expectation ‘is that people will be in the office outside of extenuating circumstances.’

(Sources: bbc.co.uk)