There is a big wind of change in the business world. Amazon is ending the remote working model that became widespread during the pandemic and calling its employees to the office full time. This radical decision has the potential to affect not only Amazon but the entire business world. So, what is happening? What are the reasons behind this decision?
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced this important change in a memo sent to employees. Jassy said, “ We have decided to return to our pre-Covid working order, ” and that the new policy will come into effect in January. The reason for this move was given so that employees can “invent better, collaborate, and be sufficiently connected to each other .”
The move could create tensions within Amazon , where the company previously allowed two days of work per week from home. Last year, employees at the company’s Seattle headquarters staged a protest against the tightening of full-time remote work. Amazon fired the employee who organized the protest, which led to claims of unfair retaliation and the issue was taken to labor court.
Jassy said Monday that Amazon’s corporate culture is being undermined by flexible working and excessive bureaucratic layers. To address this concern, he said he has created a system he calls a “red tape mailbox” and is asking managers to oversee more people. Amazon has also acknowledged that these changes could lead to job losses .
As part of the new policy, it was also announced that hot -desking will be implemented in offices in the US. The company emphasized that employees can work from home in extraordinary circumstances (for example, if their child is sick or there is an emergency at home), but are otherwise expected to be in the office.
The decision contrasts with the UK government’s approach, which plans to make flexible working a default right in a new employment rights bill due next month. Labour’s Jonathan Reynolds says the government wants to end a “ culture of presenteeism ” (the need to be physically present at work) and argues there are “ real economic benefits ” to working from home.
Remote work, which peaked during the pandemic, began to decline starting in 2022. But the return to the office has yet to fully materialize. According to a study this summer, about 12% of full-time employees in the U.S. work entirely remotely, while 27% are subject to hybrid work policies.
Banking executives like JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon have been among the most vocal critics of remote work, calling for full-time office attendance. But the attitude is spreading to other industries, too. Companies like UPS and Dell have also called their workers back to the office full time this year.
Stanford University professor Nicholas Bloom says these announcements aren’t a sign of a broader shift in work policy. Bloom notes that his data shows that time spent in the office has been pretty stable for more than a year. “ For every high-profile company that’s canceling work from home, there are others that are expanding it — they’re just not in the media ,” he says.
Amazon’s decision is sparking a new debate in the business world: Is it more productive to work remotely or in the office? In the coming period, we will see if other major companies will make similar decisions. These developments could affect not only working life, but also city centers, transportation systems, and even housing markets. The business world seems to be on the verge of a new transformation.
