Amazon wants employees to return to the office five days a week starting in January 2025.
In early 2023, company CEO Andy Jassy announced that Amazon's Remote-first pandemic stancesays, “We should get back to being in the office together the majority of the time (at least three days a week).”
Well, Jassy has released new memo There he outlines how things are changing again. “We have decided to return to the office as we did before the onset of COVID-19,” he wrote.
“We find it easier for teammates to learn, model, practice, and reinforce our culture. Collaboration, brainstorming, and invention become easier and more effective. Teaching and learning from each other becomes more seamless, and teams tend to connect better with each other.”
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Last year's call back to office inspired this new move. “If anything, being back in the office at least three days a week for the past 15 months has made me even more convinced of the benefits,” Jassy said.
Amazon is not the only major company to require employees to return to the office full time, with JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs also implementing full return-to-office mandates.
Other companies are also trying different strategies to motivate their employees. For example, Dell tells remote employees that they will no longer be considered for promotions. If staff want to be promoted, they will need to work at least three days a week at their local 'approved office'.
Remote work makes workers happy
Critics of RTO mandates point out that remote work can be directly linked to employee health. According to the 2022 study track happiness We found that employees are 20% happier when they can work remotely.
No benefit has been found in academic research papers either. Research at the University of Pittsburgh It is often used as the biggest lever to bring employees back, realizing that returning to the office will not increase productivity.
“Our results don't really support these arguments,” said study leader Mark Marr, associate professor of business administration at Pitt's Katz School of Business.
According to a recent study, A comfortable workplace It found that “mandates, whether returning to the office, working remotely, or in a hybrid format, pose risks to things like employee retention and productivity.”
So why are companies asking employees to go back to their desks just like they did in 2019?
For example, JPMorgan Chase's Jamie Dimon said there are “serious weaknesses” to virtual work, including delayed decision-making and a lack of “self-directed learning and creativity.”
skip work
Strengthening the voice of executives who want action on the ground is a new initiative. part of research They found that hybrid and remote work options can cause people to slack off at work.
Hybrid employees often praise the flexibility that working from home provides, such as being able to pick up kids from school or daycare or do laundry between meetings. However, the survey found that some home-based workers are not giving their full effort to work.
Almost half (46%) say they multitask on work calls. Online shopping, social media, and cleaning were the main culprits.
The same number say they complete household chores during work hours. 20% confessed to having taken a nap, 17% admitted to watching TV or playing video games, and an equal number revealed they had gone to work elsewhere without telling anyone.
Additionally, for younger workers, remote and hybrid work has created confusion, blurring the lines between sick time, vacation, and mental health leave.
But at the end of the day, being in the office doesn't just guarantee productivity.
Workplace trends like coffee badges (stopping in to swipe a card and briefly checking in with your team before heading home) and office peacocking (working to look super busy) are also cutting into workers' time. You're more likely to waste it. And productivity decreases.
Being in the office guarantees employees something very important: visibility.
Proximity bias, or the unconscious tendency for executives to favor people they literally see, is a real phenomenon. When you're out of sight, your boss won't care about you, and you won't get promotions or access to major projects.
Remote or hybrid work is suitable for many workers, including people with specific needs, such as women, parents, and people with disabilities who find commuting difficult and stressful.
So, if you want to continue working remotely but feel like you're being punished when your boss insists on full reinstatement, one solution is to make sure your requirements are sufficient. be considered for a new role in the company.
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