Amazon (NYSE: AMZN) has mandated that most employees should work from the office “majority of the time.” It joins a host of other US companies which are now reconsidering their HR policies formulated during the pandemic.
In his blog post, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said that the company observed all the models like employees working from home, employees functioning from the office, and a combination of both.
The company said that its S-team, which is a group of senior executives of different business functions, concluded “that we should go back to being in the office together the majority of the time (at least three days per week).
The new rules would come into effect from May 1. While Jassy said that there could be exceptions, he emphasized, it “will be a small minority.”
Notably, over the last couple of months, several US companies have mandated employees to return to office. This includes Twitter whose new owner Elon Musk said that employees need to work from office at least 40 hours a week.
Musk has also laid off majority of Twitter employees as he tries to turn around the company. In June 2022, Musk also asked Tesla employees to return to office. Alphabet and Apple also called upon some of the employees to work from office.
Disney’s new CEO Bob Iger also ended the work-from-home policy of his predecessor Bob Chapek.
Iger also said that the company would seek board approval for the restoration of its dividend which was suspended in 2020. There is a list of companies that pay good dividend yields.
Here’s Why Amazon Ended Its Work-from-Home Policy
In his blog, Jassy highlighted several reasons behind the change in its work-from-home policy. Firstly, he said that the company observed “It’s easier to learn, model, practice, and strengthen our culture when we’re in the office together most of the time and surrounded by our colleagues.”
Secondly, he said that inventing and collaboration is easier while working from office. Notably, while reversing Disney’s work-from-home policy, Iger also said that for creative businesses like Disney, a work-from-office model works better.
Thirdly, Jassy said that Amazon observes that employees can better learn from one another while working together in the office. He added that teams are “better connected” when employees work from the office.
Jassy admitted that “adjusting again to a new way of working will take some time” for the employees. He also added that it won’t be easy for the company also to accommodate so many employees and there would be imperfections initially.
AMZN Laid off 18,000 Employees
Meanwhile, earlier this year, Amazon said that it would lay off around 18,000 employees which was higher than the 10,000 job cuts that it previously planned. Many other tech companies including Microsoft, Alphabet, and Netflix have also laid off employees.
Meta Platforms, which laid off 13% of its workforce last year, is reportedly planning another round of layoffs in a bid to cut down on expenses.
Meanwhile, markets have largely been supportive of tech companies’ cost-cut efforts. Tech companies overhired during the pandemic and now find themselves overstaffed amid slowing growth.
Amazon stock lost almost 50% in 2022 and had its second-worst year ever. Other major tech stocks also underperformed in 2022 amid the sell-off in growth names.
US tech stocks have meanwhile rebounded from their recent lows. There is a guide on how beginners can buy tech stocks.
Coming back to Amazon’s work-from-office policy, a lot of companies are now revisiting the policies made during the pandemic. While some like Coinbase have moved to a permanent work-from-home policy, some others like AMZN are moving towards work-from-office.
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