Corporate Amazon employees are facing a return to the office.

According to a recent announcement from Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, all employees will transition back to full-time office work next year, abandoning the current hybrid schedule for the sake of collaboration and team bonding.

This policy update was shared with employees on Monday, but will come into effect in early 2025.

Since February 2023, Amazon has required staff to work in the office three days a week, a decision that led to demonstrations from employees. The company maintains that there are considerable “benefits to being together in the office.”

Jassy emphasized that being present in the workplace helps employees “learn, emulate, practice, and reinforce our culture.”

“Working together, brainstorming, and innovating are more straightforward and productive; learning from each other happens more fluidly; and teams generally feel more connected,” Jassy stated. “Our conviction about these advantages has grown stronger over the past 15 months as we adapted back to at least three days in the office each week.”

He expressed his “optimism” regarding this policy change.

‘We expect staff to be in the office,’ says Amazon CEO

Employees at Amazon are anticipated to work from the office five days a week for the foreseeable future, barring any “extenuating circumstances” requiring special approval from management. They have until January 2, 2025, to adjust to this “new expectation” before it goes into effect.

Jassy remarked that such a policy isn’t unusual since full-time office work was standard prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Before the pandemic, not everyone was working in the office five days a week. If someone faced a home emergency, traveled to meet customers or partners, or needed a few days to concentrate on difficult tasks, they would work remotely,” Jassy explained. “This will continue to be understood as we move forward.”

According to Jassy, working from home two days a week was not commonplace prior to the pandemic.

“And this expectation will remain—we expect employees to work in the office,” Jassy affirmed.

Previous Employee Protests

In the prior year, some corporate Amazon staff voiced objections to the company’s return-to-office policy, leading to a protest at the Seattle headquarters as reported by YSL News. Employees also sought to highlight the company’s role in exacerbating the climate crisis and recent job layoffs.

“Workers should have a say in decisions affecting our lives, like the return-to-office requirement and how our work contributes to the climate crisis,” the protest organizers stated online. “Our aim is to influence Amazon’s decision-making on harmful policies that disproportionately affect marginalized groups, including people of color, women, LGBTQ individuals, and the disabled.”

Sources indicate that employees who do not adhere to the new return-to-office policy may jeopardize their prospects for promotion, as reported by CNN.

YSL News has reached out to Amazon employees to gather their responses regarding Monday’s announcement.