Amazon will require its employees to work in-office for at least three days a week starting in May, according to a memo published on Friday attributed to CEO Andy Jassy. Jassy emphasized the benefits of a hybrid work model, stating that it would “strengthen” Amazon’s corporate culture and foster better collaboration among its workforce.
The company’s plans to bring employees back to the office have been delayed multiple times since the beginning of the pandemic, with Amazon initially expecting workers to return in October 2020. The announcement comes in the same week that Activision confirmed it would require Blizzard employees to work in-office for at least three days a week starting in July.
While many companies have shifted to remote work during the pandemic, Amazon and other major corporations have been grappling with how to balance the benefits of remote work with the advantages of in-person collaboration. The move by Amazon is likely to spark a debate among other companies about the best way to structure a post-pandemic work environment.
Amazon’s decision to require employees to work in-office also comes at a time when the company has faced criticism from some of its workers over working conditions and labor practices. Last year, workers at Amazon’s JFK8 facility in Staten Island voted to unionize, making it the first unionized Amazon workplace in the United States. The move also follows Amazon’s announcement at the beginning of the year that it would lay off over 18,000 employees.
While Jassy acknowledged that the return to the office would not be perfect at first, he expressed confidence that the office experience would steadily improve over the coming months and years as Amazon’s real estate and facilities teams worked to smooth out any issues. It remains to be seen how Amazon’s new policy will be received by its employees and whether other companies will follow suit in requiring employees to work in-office.
