Amazon orders staff back to office as Aussies hold their WFH rights

Amazon is ordering staff back into the office five days a week to “strengthen” its company culture, CEO Andy Jassy says, as new research shows Australian employees are an outlier regarding remote work privileges.

In a message shared with Amazon workers overnight, CEO Andy Jassy says the company will revert to the pre-pandemic standard of five days per week in the office from January 2, 2025.

Amazon, which holds a market capitalisation of US$1.93 trillion, must “operate like the world’s largest startup” where employees are “joined at the hip” with teammates, says Jassy.

Working in the office five days a week makes it easier for teammates to collaborate, brainstorm, and learn from each other, the notice claims.

“If anything, the last 15 months we’ve been back in the office at least three days a week has strengthened our conviction about the benefits,” says Jassy.

The announcement does not come as a surprise, as Jassy heralded significant changes to Amazon’s WFH model in February this year.

Coinciding with the announcement was Amazon’s pledge to increase the ratio of employees to managers, to correct what Jassy says is a corporate culture too reliant on overseers.

“Having fewer managers will remove layers and flatten organisations more than they are today,” to the benefit of quick decision-making, says Jassy.

The announcement is one of the most significant examples of a company publicly disavowing the hybrid-first model adopted by many companies since the COVID-19 pandemic first hit.

It also arrives in a period of heavy cost-cutting across the tech and startup sector; in the wake of massive expansion and easy access to capital through 2021 to 2023, many companies are finding ways to pare back their workforces.

Australian employees leading the world on remote work rights

The news coincides with fresh research from workplace design consultancy Unispace, which found Australia is a world leader in terms of hybrid working acceptance.

Citing a survey of 8,000 employees and 2,700 employers across 13 countries, Unispace says 32% of Australian employees have the ability to choose where they work, compared to 23% worldwide.

Australian employees are also marginally less likely to view remote work as an impediment to career progression (23%) than the global average (25%).

In a statement accompanying the data, Emma Davenport, senior principal at Unispace, said Australian workers have greater autonomy over their working arrangements than the global norm.

And unlike the announcement from Jassy, Davenport linked the willingness to let staff work where they please to improved corporate performance.

“This flexibility not only boosts our overall wellbeing by optimising life balance but also provides a clear competitive edge in attracting and retaining top talent, particularly when measured against other countries,” she said.

“While some large employers from the public and private sector are looking at mandating returns to the office, any restrictive approaches should be taken with caution and managed carefully,” she continued.

Hardline back-to-office edicts risk “undermining employee engagement, which is essential for sustaining high levels of performance and productivity,” she said.

And unlike the US-based Amazon, the data shows Australian employers are largely on the same page as their workforce: 94% of employers are satisfied with their current working arrangements, compared to 86% of employees.

Australian employees would be more likely to spend time in the office if the workspace paid for or subsidised transport costs, Unispace added.

A 2022 report from Real Insurance found Australians spend an average of $4,003 commuting each year, a figure that has likely increased since then through inflation.

Flexible starting times and free lunches were also listed as factors that could entice workers back to the office, as per the Unispace data.

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