Amazon backflips on return to work plan as team leaders take the reign

Working remotely a dream no more, as e-commerce giant Amazon asks corporate staff to make an effort to return to the office.

Amazon is leaving it up to team managers to decide how often their employees come in to work when offices reopen next year.

CEO Andy Jassy said Amazon found it couldn’t have a “one-size-fits-all approach”, with flexible working to stay beyond the pandemic.

‘We’re going to be in a stage of experimenting, learning, and adjusting for a while as we emerge from this pandemic,’ Jassy wrote in a memo addressed to employees.

The decision comes after the e-commerce giant axed it original plan for corporate staff to return to offices for a 3-day week, by January 3 2022.

But their new approach doesn’t come without a few ground rules, with employees expected to attend in-person meetings.

‘At this stage, we want most of our people close enough to their core team that they can easily travel to the office for a meeting within a day’s notice.’

This expectation therefore crushes the dreams of employees who may have wished to work remotely on an international scale.

High-performing staff already employed to fulfil a work-from-home position are exempt from this rule, but will see their workload cut significantly.

This means that those who want to work from a remote location will only be able to do so for up to four weeks a year.

A hybrid approach

While Amazon employees are expected to make an effort to come into the office, Jassy doesn’t anticipate that all staff will return full-time.

He says that team leaders may choose to have their staff working from home on an almost regular basis, while others may follow a hybrid model.

“It depends on what will be most effective for our customers,” Jassy says.

“[Additionally], we will all continue to be evaluated by how we deliver for customers, regardless of where the work is performed.”

Hundreds of thousands of Amazon’s 1.3 million employees will learn about what is expected of them before January 3 next year.

Meanwhile, Amazon will continue to monitor the rapidly changing dynamic of the pandemic to assess what will help the company uphold their unique customer experience.

“With lots of invention and change in front of us, you can bet that we will continue to adjust as we keep learning what makes most sense for our customers and teams.”

Written by Rebecca Borg