In mid-September, Amazon announced that all employees would need to return to the office five days a week.
According to new data from Blind, which surveys anonymous tech professionals on a wide range of issues, Amazon’s employees aren’t happy about this return-to-office policy:
Blind polled 2,585 (verified) Amazon employees the day after CEO Andy Jassy announced the new mandate. “RTO blanket policy is crazy, particularly for those of us who were hired remote and FAR from an office. I have kids and family here so unwilling to relocate,” one respondent told the website’s polltakers. “Even if I didn’t there’s too great a risk I’d be laid off in 6 months anyway so why risk a move?”
It’s not out of the question that Amazon’s return-to-office maneuver might also impact its hiring pipeline, at least based on one anonymous comment left on Blind. “I just had an Amazon recruiter blow up my phone and inbox 5 times in the last 24 hours to get me to provide my availability for an onsite interview,” a verified Microsoft professional reported. “I just asked the recruiter why they are rushing to hire and he said the hiring managers are pissed that so many candidates dropped out of the pipeline in just the last 24 hours.”
But Amazon clearly felt the move was necessary for its productivity and culture. “When we look back over the last five years, we continue to believe that the advantages of being together in the office are significant,” Amazon CEO Andy Jassy wrote in a company-wide memo (posted online) announcing the policy. “I’ve previously explained these benefits (February 2023 post), but in summary, we’ve observed that it’s easier for our teammates to learn, model, practice, and strengthen our culture; collaborating, brainstorming, and inventing are simpler and more effective; teaching and learning from one another are more seamless; and, teams tend to be better connected to one another.”
Throughout the tech industry, however, tech professionals have indicated a strong preference for hybrid and remote work. In survey after survey, including Dice’s regular Sentiment Reports, younger tech professionals have cited hybrid work as a great way to collaborate face-to-face with colleagues and mentors while also maintaining the benefits (such as scheduling flexibility and no commute) of remote work. In fact, many tech pros have indicated they’ll jump jobs if they don’t get the hybrid- and remote-work setup they desire. Will that impact Amazon in the longer term?
