Amazon said on Monday it would require employees to return to the office five days a week, effective 2 January, The Guardian has reported.
“We’ve decided that we’re going to return to being in the office the way we were before the onset of COVID. When we look back over the last five years, we continue to believe that the advantages of being together in the office are significant,” Andy Jassy, the CEO, said in a note to employees.
The e-commerce giant’s previous office attendance requirement for its workers was three days a week. Amazon workers can claim “extenuating circumstances” or request exceptions from senior leadership, according to Jassy’s memo.
Since Covid lockdowns first forced workers home four years ago, employers and employees have clashed over how many days of the work week must be spent in the office. In May last year, employees at Amazon’s Seattle headquarters staged a walkout protesting against changes to the e-commerce giant’s climate policy, layoffs and a return-to-office mandate.
“Before the pandemic, it was not a given that folks could work remotely two days a week, and that will also be true moving forward,” Jassy wrote. “Our expectation is that people will be in the office outside of extenuating circumstances.”