Amazon is reverting to its pre-pandemic policy and will require corporate employees to be in the office five days per week starting next year, CEO Andy Jassy said Monday, according to the Associated Press.
Jassy said in a message shared with employees that the company’s leadership had been thinking in recent months about how to better “invent, collaborate, and be connected enough to each other” to deliver the best results for customers and the business.
Like many other companies, Amazon’s corporate employees worked remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the company saw massive gains from a boost in online shopping. In 2021, the tech giant implemented a policy that allowed leaders to determine how their teams worked.
In February 2023, Amazon asked all employees to come back to the office for three mandatory days, resulting in some protests from workers.
A few months later, Jassy said employees who were not happy about the change should learn to “disagree and commit.” He also issued somewhat of a subtle threat, saying it was “probably not going to work out” for those who refused to do so.
In his note on Monday, Jassy said the company has observed that it is easier for employees to “learn, model, practice, and strengthen” Amazon’s culture and brainstorm when they’re together in person.
