The said article is based on a conversation with an Amazon employee in Germany who has been given the name of anonymity to protect his privacy. His identity and work have been confirmed by Business Insider. The following information has been edited for length and clarity.
Amazon notified all employees on Monday of a new back-to-office order that requires us to be in the office five days a week starting in January.
My whole team was very shocked and worried. Some people want to leave the company. This is a fraud to many people, especially those who were employed as remote workers, and it destroys our trust.
Before Amazon made the announcement this week, I already had a feeling that a hard back-to-office order would come in 2025. That’s because management made it clear in the last order that this is the path it will take. , and in the last few months, things have been more difficult.
In Germany, Amazon in June started implementing a mandate that requires us to be in the office three days a week, but unlike in the US, we don’t have to go in for certain hours a day. People are still trying to adjust to the final conditions of returning to the office.
I live close to the office, so I don’t have to worry about having to do two more days in the office because I can just go in, swipe my badge, stay for 15 minutes, and go back, so we’re still flexible said.
I think the return to office policy is still being used as a tool to quietly retire, as I have seen many bright engineers leave the company since the last order.
People are really afraid of what this will mean for them. Several of my colleagues contacted me and told me that they were thinking of leaving the company, even for lower paying jobs.
Having a flexible remote working strategy did not have a significant effect on productivity. If you create an atmosphere of growth and drive people, they will always give, no matter where they work.
I think this is enough as long as people do their jobs to the best of their ability. I see the importance of meeting occasionally and discussing ideas, but it is not necessary to work in the office all the time.
The new order will be difficult for many people who have been out of office during the pandemic, have childcare commitments, or have social anxiety and will be forced to be in public.
In addition to the RTO announcement, I found in the news that Amazon plans to reduce the number of middle managers by 15%. It was a surprise because we already have a resource crunch. We have few people doing a lot of work, which means that I, and other employees, felt unhappy.
Now that Amazon wants to reduce the number of heads, things will be very difficult for the employees. In most groups, there are between eight and 12 people controlled by one person; well, it could be six people under one manager. This means that some managers are already overburdened, which will only get worse.
Cutting middle managers will affect everyone because one manager overseeing many people means you don’t have enough time to have discussions about career development and you can’t you work in new ways or engage with stakeholders.
The consensus among other Amazon employees I spoke with is that they plan to leave as the economy and job market improve. They are already frustrated and under a lot of pressure, and the new RTO policy and retrenchment plans add to the tension.
I think other Big Tech companies will follow suit and require employees to return to the office five days a week as well.
An Amazon spokesperson told BI that they realized that being in an office together made it easier for employees to learn, model, collaborate and connect better. They added that the direction to return to the office is an effort to strengthen its culture.
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