Amazon is forcing employees to come into the office five days a week, but they're not happy about it.
Employees aired their frustrations on Slack after Andy Jassy, who took over as CEO in 2021, said in a memo on Monday that employees should return fully to the office by January.
The mandate to return to the office is a major change from the current hybrid policy, which requires employees to work in the office at least three days a week.
“Come in five days a week means I can leave my laptop at work, right? There's no reason to take it home,” one staff member fumed on an internal Slack channel. Business Insider sawHe is referring to Amazon's tough work culture.
The five-day work week requirement is part of an effort to foster collaboration that was in place even before the pandemic, making it easier for teammates to “learn, lead by example, practice and strengthen our company culture,” Jassy said.
Jassy said the new mandate would work similarly to most office environments pre-pandemic: If an employee has an exceptional circumstance, like a sick child away from home, a home emergency or time away from home for meetings with clients or partners, it would be “understood.”
Not all Amazon workers were upset.
“Please keep in mind that this is (in many cases) much more rigorous and insane than what many teams operated pre-COVID,” one employee wrote in Slack, according to BI. “This is not a return to the way things were before, it's just a step backwards.”
An Amazon employee told BI that Slack channels were “burning hot” with frustrated comments and reactions after Jassy's announcement on Monday.
“Can you please negotiate a PIP with your manager,” one Amazon worker wrote, referring to the company's stringent performance improvement plans that employees say are a prerequisite for firing.
“You take the money and leave?”
“Whatever happened to 'striving to be the best employer on Earth',” another employee wrote on Slack, agreeing with one of Amazon's leadership principles.
Employees had previously denounced the principle as a “marketing ploy.”
In the technology industry, Amazon is Harsh working conditions for many years – past reports Long working hours, unreasonably high standards, internal competition, etc.
Since the pandemic began, the company has required employees to come into the office three days a week.
The policy took effect in May 2023, leading to employee strikes.
And the new order only reignited employee discontent with the company, and especially its CEO.
“Today marks day 1,169,” one employee wrote on Monday, referring to the number of days since Jassy became CEO.
