As Amazon Ends Remote Work, Will Other Corporations Follow?

New York, NY, Setpember 23, 2024-"Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy set CEOs abuzz with envy-and white-collar workers with fear-this week with a surprise memo calling corporate staffers back to the office full time,” reports the Wall Street Journal. 

“Now, long after hybrid work seemed a settled matter at many companies, suddenly both sides are wondering: Who’s next?

“At a party in Seattle Tuesday evening, shortly after Jassy went public with his plan, his return-to-office rally cry was a hot topic among executives in attendance.

“‘It was the talk of the town,’ says Glenn Kelman, CEO of Seattle-based real-estate brokerage Redfin, who was there. 

“Until Jassy’s memo, 4½ years after the Covid-19 pandemic sent everyone home, bosses and employees had largely reached a truce on part-time remote work. Many company leaders looked out at their substantially empty offices in quiet exasperation. But they feared that forcing their employees to come to the office more often could send top performers fleeing for more flexible work setups elsewhere. The handful of companies that have returned to full-time, in-person work, including United Parcel Service and Goldman Sachs, have been outliers. The number of firms requiring five days in the office has actually fallen by 15% from a year ago, according to data from Flex Index, which tracks the work policies of more than 6,300 companies.

“But a tougher labor market, especially for white-collar professionals, is now changing the calculus. With jobs harder to find and more companies willing to cut them, the balance of power is shifting from workers to bosses. Many of those bosses still worry that productivity and innovation suffer when people aren’t together in an office. With Jassy laying down the law at Amazon, some executives predict more full-time office mandates will now follow.

“In a KPMG survey of 400 U.S. CEOs released this week, nearly 80% said that they expected corporate employees to be in offices full time within the next three years. That’s more than double the 34% who said so in April. 

“Kelman said other CEOs will be watching Amazon for two things: Will Amazon bleed workers? Or will this give it a competitive edge?

“‘There’s one world in which Amazon loses talent-it doesn’t become an employer of choice,’ says Kelman. ‘And there’s another world where Amazon is able to innovate faster, is able to resolve snafus more quickly.’

“Redfin employees-currently expected to be in the office two days a week-have already queried Kelman about whether he’ll follow suit, he says. Though he has no plans to require more days, he says, hybrid work is harder than everyone thought it would be. 

“‘It’s working,’ he says. ‘But it’s hard just as a physical fact to pay for an office that is mostly empty.’”