Amazon, which abolishes remote work and switches to forced attendance five days a week, postpones the day of attendance due to 'lack of office space'



Many companies have introduced remote work amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but many executives believe that remote work reduces productivity, and companies such as Google and Tesla have abolished remote work. Amazon also announced a policy to have employees come to the office five days a week from January 2025, but it has been revealed that at least seven cities will delay employees coming to the office for up to four months, citing 'not enough space for employees to work in the office.'

Amazon (AMZN) Delays Return-to-Office Mandate for Thousands of Workers - Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-12-18/amazon-delays-return-to-office-mandate-for-thousands-of-workers



Like other major companies, Amazon introduced remote work during the pandemic, but CEO Andy Jassy has strengthened its policy of abolishing remote work and gradually returning employees to the office. In August 2023, CEO Jassy also made headlines by warning employees who appealed for the continuation of remote work, saying, 'If you continue to refuse to come into the office three days a week, it's probably not going to work at Amazon.'

Amazon CEO warns employees who continue working remotely: 'It probably won't work at Amazon' - GIGAZINE



In September 2024, Amazon announced a policy requiring employees to come to the office five days a week. As a result, the process for employees with disabilities to obtain permission to work remotely has been tightened , and the application process can now take several weeks.

Amazon changes policy to '5 days a week in the office' - GIGAZINE



However, Amazon has notified employees in seven US cities, including Austin , Dallas and Phoenix , that they will be delayed by up to four months because there would not be enough space for everyone to work if they came to the office five days a week.

Amazon has already required many employees to come into the office three days a week, but even with that, a lack of office space has been an issue. In recent interviews, employees complained about working at shared desks, crowded cafeterias, and a lack of conference rooms for sensitive phone calls and team meetings.

The pandemic-induced push back against remote work has left tech companies struggling to rent quality office space, with Amazon reportedly leasing space from co-working firm WeWork in New York and Silicon Valley in recent weeks.

Return-to-office (RTO) initiatives are gaining momentum among major American companies, but a study tracking more than 3 million workers at high-tech and financial companies that make up the S&P 500 , a leading stock index, has shown that RTOs increase employee turnover and make it harder to recruit new employees.

Return to Office Mandates and Brain Drain by Yuye Ding, Zhao Jin, Mark (Shuai) Ma, Betty (Bin) Xing, Yucheng (John) Yang :: SSRN
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5031481

Companies issuing RTO mandates “lose their best talent”: Study - Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/12/companies-issuing-rto-mandates-lose-their-best-talent-study/



The study found that the average turnover rate increased by 14% after a company announced an RTO policy, with turnover rates especially high among female employees and highly skilled, senior employees. Highly skilled employees are more likely to switch jobs if RTOs are made mandatory, as they have more connections with other companies and are therefore more likely to find new work.

Companies that mandate RTOs have also been shown to have a harder time hiring new talent than before: studies have shown that when companies mandate RTOs, the time it takes to fill a job opening increases by about 23% and hiring rates decrease by 17%.

Technology media Ars Technica points out that RTOs have a negative impact on employee turnover and recruitment because they increase 'distrust in a culture that encourages management to monitor employees' and 'doubts about management's decision-making ability.' In addition, if prior communication is insufficient, the announcement of an RTO is an unpleasant surprise event for employees, which is likely to cause negative reactions such as job changes.

in Note, Posted by log1h_ik