Five Day RTO Policy takes Effect in 2025 for Amazon Employees
An investment in office spaces over the past few years and a push for employees to be close to their teams has prompted decisions by Amazon to reinstate a five-day-per-week return-to-office (RTO) requirement. The September 16 message posted on Amazon’s website by CEO Andy Jassy highlighted the benefits observed of being in the office, strengthening the decision to return to the office policies in place prior to the onset of the pandemic. Within the post, Jassy summarized the following in-office benefits observed that he previously explained in more detail back in February 2023 — easier for teammates to learn, model, practice, and strengthen the company’s culture; ability to collaborate, brainstorm, and invent are simpler and more effective; teaching and learning from one another is more seamless; and teams tend to be better connected to one another. Although other corporations such as UPS, JPMorgan Chase and Boeing “have called at least some of their workers back to the office full time,” it is anticipated that Amazon’s broader company-wide policy could prompt other major technology firms to think about their office attendance policy again, and “also likely to trickle down to the decision makers at smaller companies that look up to the tech giant.” According to reported data from Flex Index, a software firm that tracks return-to-office efforts, “in the 3rd quarter of 2024, 33% of U.S. companies required employees to come to the office full time;” and while others would like to see more people back in the office, “many have come to accept that employees will spend at least some of their working time at home.”
Source: https://www.wsj.com/business/amazon-tells-workers-to-return-to-office-five-days-a-week-42a32ec8