Amazon calls staff back to the office

Amazon has asked staff to be in the office at least three days a week from May.

In a message to staff, CEO Andy Jessy said the leadership team believe it is easier when in the office to “absorb the culture”, as well as “collaborate and invent”.

“We should go back to being in the office together the majority of the time (at least three days per week,” he wrote.

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Jassy said the team had observed that learning from one another is easier in-person and employees also tend to be better connected.

The tech giant, which cut over 18,000 jobs from its workforce in January, updated its working practices in October 2021, when it said that director-level leaders would decide where their teams would work and would “experiment for the next chunk of time”.

"When you’re in-person, people tend to be more engaged, observant, and attuned to what’s happening in the meetings and the cultural clues being communicated. 

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“For those unsure about why something happened, or somebody reacted a certain way, it’s easier to ask ad-hoc questions on the way to lunch, in the elevator, or the hallway; whereas when you’re at home, you’re less likely to do so. 

“It’s also easier for leaders to teach when they have more people in a room at one time, can better assess whether the team is digesting the information as intended; and if not, how they need to adjust their communication.”

He also pointed out that its decision would boost thousands of businesses located around its offices.

"This shift will provide a boost for the thousands of businesses located around our urban headquarter locations in the Puget Sound, Virginia, Nashville, and the dozens of cities around the world where our employees go to the office," Jassy wrote.

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Amazon is one of many tech giants which have cut staff. It was revealed last month that it would cut over 18,000 jobs from its global workforce.
 

Jassy cited “the uncertain economy” for the move and said Amazon had “hired rapidly over the last several years”.

Twitter’s CEO Elon Musk ordered all staff back into the office shortly after his appointment, ending an era of remote working for the social media firm.

The announcement came days after firing thousands of employees.

“Remote work is no longer allowed, unless you have a specific exception. Managers will send the exception lists to me for review and approval,” he wrote.

In August, Apple also told its employees they must come in to the office for at least three days a week from next month, in an effort to restore “in-person collaboration”.