Amazon instructs managers to warn employees: get back in the office or you're fired

[midian182]

A hot potato: Few companies implementing a return-to-work policy have faced as much pushback from employees as Amazon. But then the tech giant isn't taking a gentle approach to getting staff back into the office. A new report claims that Amazon has now essentially given managers the power to fire any employees who fail to turn up at one of its locations at least three times per week.

Insider reports that Amazon has issued updated manager guidance on the company's return-to-work policy, sharing guidelines and talking points through an internal portal this week.

Returning to the office at least three times per week has been a contentious issue for Amazon's corporate workers. The original announcement resulted in an employee petition, which was resoundingly rejected, and it was one of the reasons behind a walkout later in the year. Adding fuel to the fire was another policy introduced in July that requires some corporate workers to relocate to other cities.

For those workers refusing to return, managers have been instructed to first hold private conversations, documenting the conversation in a follow-up email.

If the person still refuses to agree to the hybrid working setup, the manager should hold another meeting within one to two weeks to explain that disciplinary action will be taken if the defiance continues. This includes terminating the employee's contract.

Amazon has made no secret of what could happen to employees who refuse to return. CEO Andy Jassy recently told staff it was past the time to disagree with the mandate and commit. For those who don't, "it's probably not going to work out for you at Amazon."

Andy "Get back in the damn office, or else" Jassy

Jassy said earlier this year that Amazon made several observations during the pandemic when teams moved to home or hybrid work models. The company claims that it is easier to learn, model, practice, and strengthen its culture when employees are in the office together. Amazon also says traditional working practices make collaborating and inventing easier, and learning from colleagues is better done in person.

Amazon isn't the only company telling workers to come back or leave. Roblox, a company that is all about virtual worlds and even has its own in-game recruiting platform, recently gave staff the same ultimatum, while Elon Musk, who really seems to hate the concept of working from home, threatened his companies' workers with the same fate last year.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/100586-amazon-instructs-managers-warn-employees-get-back-office.html

 

[RudyBob]

Good for Amazon

 

[Chrunci]

Said no one ever.

 

[Uncle Al]

Dumb, truly and absolutely dumb ....

 

[Dimitriid]

The best case scenarios would be that several of these employees would either unionize or launch a class action lawsuit because, just Amazon making claims that in-office work environments for relevant positions (Like 99% of all IT professionals for example) lead to X, Y and Z should not be sufficient: they should be compelled to legally show and defendants to legally debunk these productivity claims because we already know them to be false: Productivity INCREASED almost across the board when most positions moved to home office and the claims about team work and cooperation are often vastly overstated by just some workers that would prefer that but guess what? If given a choice between being slightly or equally as good at your job in an office would probably be secondary to people that would otherwise would need to spend 30% of their available time just commuting in high traffic or worst, 50-60% of the income to afford the rent and prices inside urban centers where companies like Amazon like to place their offices.

Lastly, as an argument for their ulterior motives Amazon should be compelled to show in court exactly how much they spend and maybe even profit from real estate speculation, which I suspect would be the main reason for them to want to get some use out of those offices: It might not seem so but if they're putting a lot of money on offices they want to justify holding on to long term lease agreements by needlessly pushing positions most of which absolutely do not need to be done in office to come back so they can hold on to said lease agreements and such: I'm sure there's more than a bit of tax shenanigans that goes into tax deductions from owning X offices but it's hard to keep them if they're basically empty.

The list goes on but I think the point is clear: only people deeply indoctrinated into capitalist propaganda fail to ask these very basic questions and believe Amazon at face value responding with "You gotta do what the boss order otherwise you should be fired!"

 

[p51d007]

THEIR company, THEIR rules. Don't like it? Quit and start your own WFH company then.

 

[NicktheWVAHick]

I can’t believe this is still even an issue. You want to keep your job? Follow the dang rules.

 

[m4a4]

 

[RudyBob]

The best case scenarios would be that several of these employees would either unionize or launch a class action lawsuit because, just Amazon making claims that in-office work environments for relevant positions (Like 99% of all IT professionals for example) lead to X, Y and Z should not be sufficient: they should be compelled to legally show and defendants to legally debunk these productivity claims because we already know them to be false: Productivity INCREASED almost across the board when most positions moved to home office and the claims about team work and cooperation are often vastly overstated by just some workers that would prefer that but guess what? If given a choice between being slightly or equally as good at your job in an office would probably be secondary to people that would otherwise would need to spend 30% of their available time just commuting in high traffic or worst, 50-60% of the income to afford the rent and prices inside urban centers where companies like Amazon like to place their offices.

Lastly, as an argument for their ulterior motives Amazon should be compelled to show in court exactly how much they spend and maybe even profit from real estate speculation, which I suspect would be the main reason for them to want to get some use out of those offices: It might not seem so but if they're putting a lot of money on offices they want to justify holding on to long term lease agreements by needlessly pushing positions most of which absolutely do not need to be done in office to come back so they can hold on to said lease agreements and such: I'm sure there's more than a bit of tax shenanigans that goes into tax deductions from owning X offices but it's hard to keep them if they're basically empty.

The list goes on but I think the point is clear: only people deeply indoctrinated into capitalist propaganda fail to ask these very basic questions and believe Amazon at face value responding with "You gotta do what the boss order otherwise you should be fired!"

That was awful long to not make a valid point, Comrade

 

[MasterMace]

Make sure to read the statement grammatically correctly, because Amazon likes to be misleading
'The company claims that, when employees are in the office together, it is easier to:
-learn its culture
-model its culture
-practice its culture
-strengthen its culture

"The company claims that it is easier to learn, model, practice, and strengthen its culture when employees are in the office together."

Amazon is doing this for what it cultures, nothing else.

 

[soulsassassin]

How about a deduction in salary for those who choose to work from home,

 

[PEnnn]

Reading the comments, it seems the tiny cubicle grunts are really jealous of people who work from their 5 x bigger offices at home...

 

[Duke9192]

The best case scenarios would be that several of these employees would either unionize or launch a class action lawsuit because, just Amazon making claims that in-office work environments for relevant positions (Like 99% of all IT professionals for example) lead to X, Y and Z should not be sufficient: they should be compelled to legally show and defendants to legally debunk these productivity claims because we already know them to be false: Productivity INCREASED almost across the board when most positions moved to home office and the claims about team work and cooperation are often vastly overstated by just some workers that would prefer that but guess what? If given a choice between being slightly or equally as good at your job in an office would probably be secondary to people that would otherwise would need to spend 30% of their available time just commuting in high traffic or worst, 50-60% of the income to afford the rent and prices inside urban centers where companies like Amazon like to place their offices.

Lastly, as an argument for their ulterior motives Amazon should be compelled to show in court exactly how much they spend and maybe even profit from real estate speculation, which I suspect would be the main reason for them to want to get some use out of those offices: It might not seem so but if they're putting a lot of money on offices they want to justify holding on to long term lease agreements by needlessly pushing positions most of which absolutely do not need to be done in office to come back so they can hold on to said lease agreements and such: I'm sure there's more than a bit of tax shenanigans that goes into tax deductions from owning X offices but it's hard to keep them if they're basically empty.

The list goes on but I think the point is clear: only people deeply indoctrinated into capitalist propaganda fail to ask these very basic questions and believe Amazon at face value responding with "You gotta do what the boss order otherwise you should be fired!"

Sheeeeeeshhhh. Too much time kicked back in the recliner skimming emails from home I see. In a nutshell, they want employees to work in the office. The nation has caved on its values for the last couple years to pander to the desires of the far left and we see the results. Defund police, get skyrocketing crime and homelessness. Play pandemic gymnastics and pay folks to not work and or work from home and you get folks that don't want to come back to work in the real world. Give billions in frozen assets to terror supporting nations, and you get more terrorism. Don't get on here and trash talk capitalism because you don't like Amazon's decisions. Free market or communism, your choice is clear.

 

[RudyBob]

Reading the comments, it seems the tiny cubicle grunts are really jealous of people who work from their 5 x bigger offices at home...

No

 

[Sir Sparkles]

How about a deduction in salary for those who choose to work from home,

100% deduction it seems. xD

 

[m3tavision]

The best case scenarios would be that several of these employees would either....

*SNIP*

The list goes on but I think the point is clear: only people deeply indoctrinated into capitalist propaganda fail to ask these very basic questions and believe Amazon at face value responding with "You gotta do what the boss order otherwise you should be fired!"

Holy lulz^

All that to say you are a rebel and you don't like to conform to society, bcz you are special' er than the next guy... who does want a job and a boss and a paycheck.

Whining about something doesn't work in the real world... nobody is there to coddle you when you are told never to come in.

 

[OortCloud]

I rarely support Amazon in anything, but in this case they are absolutely right.

 

[darkeasterbunny]

THEIR company, THEIR rules. Don't like it? Quit and start your own WFH company then.

Or like a friend of mine with a rare set of skills, say ok and go work somewhere else for double the pay and having only to show up in the office twice a month.

Of course there are loads of people for who unemployment is actually a threat, but the really skilled people, the ones you really want will just leave you if you threaten them. Best case scenario you cause a brain drain in your company. Worst case scenario they start a competitor who drives you out of business.

A smart company would give their managers room to asses the best choices if it comes to people having to show up themselves based on things like, does it have added value for us if this person is in office, does working at home affect this person's performance, that kind of stuff.

 

[BuckarooBonzaii]

Don't worry lots of immigrants in the U.S. now who would probably want to work. Just have to find the right ones.

 

[magisys]

Because only commuting business matter. move people, move things, create value, environment thanks.

 

[ZedRM]

My response would be: See ya!

Amazon can cram it. I would never return to a 9to5 office job.

 

[ID10T]

Sheeeeeeshhhh. Too much time kicked back in the recliner skimming emails from home I see. In a nutshell, they want employees to work in the office. The nation has caved on its values for the last couple years to pander to the desires of the far left and we see the results. Defund police, get skyrocketing crime and homelessness. Play pandemic gymnastics and pay folks to not work and or work from home and you get folks that don't want to come back to work in the real world. Give billions in frozen assets to terror supporting nations, and you get more terrorism. Don't get on here and trash talk capitalism because you don't like Amazon's decisions. Free market or communism, your choice is clear.

How exactly is utilizing modern technology to do work a far left idea ?
Just because it “was” a necessity to go into an office doesn’t mean it still is.
The Benefits are far and wide and the cons are (for relevant jobs) basically zero.
Your like that one friend who refuses to use text messaging and demands an actual phone call, get with the times, things have changed.

 

[Darkmatter]

"The company claims that it is easier to learn, model, practice, and strengthen its culture when employees are in the office together."

They aren't wrong on some of these. First one which is 3 regarding Amazon culture. I'm just going to give you a /shudder and leave it at that.

"Amazon also says traditional working practices make collaborating and inventing easier, and learning from colleagues is better done in person."

This part I think is probably true for a lot of people, but not everyone. I would say that learning is probably #1 for a lot of people. So, if you aren't learning something new, and you and/or your team collaborates and invents just as well online, then the whole thing comes down to whatever the hell "Amazon culture" is. Honestly, it sounds more like the desire for oversight, which a boss should consider, but if productivity is the same or better, then they're probably just going to lose a bunch of really talented introverts.

Still, this is Amazon we're talking about, so those who are adamant on their position should probably start shopping around. Big corp's aren't known for their flexibility.