Amazon has told its staff they should return to the office for at least three days a week starting from May 1.
In a blog post on Amazon’s corporate website, chief executive Andy Jassy wrote that “collaborating”, “inventing” and “learning from one another” is better and easier in person, and the culture is “strengthened” by being around colleagues.
The change in policy may raise difficulties for some workers. In October 2021, Amazon allowed individual teams to decide how many days corporate employees could work from the office.
Remote working remains a staple of working life, but surveys suggest more people are returning to work in person. In the US, for example, working from home fell to 27% in January, up from 35% a year earlier, according to a monthly online survey conducted by Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom.
On returning to the office at least three days a week, Jassy said: “We made this decision at an s-team meeting earlier this week, and for a number of reasons (including the adjustments I know will be required for some of our employees), I wanted to share with you as early as I could, even though we haven’t worked out all the execution details yet.
“Of course, as there were before the pandemic, there will still be certain roles (e.g. some of our salespeople, customer support, etc.) and exceptions to these expectations, but that will be a small minority. We plan to implement this change effective May 1.
“But I’m very optimistic about the positive impact this will have in how we serve and invent on behalf of customers, as well as on the growth and success of our employees.”
The structural change follows news of 18,000 jobs at Amazon being cut and UK workers deciding to strike for seven days in February and March.
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