Amazon is instructing corporate staffers to come into the office five days a week. In the past, Amazon employees had a requirement to come to the office three times a week.
Only time will tell if Amazon’s decision to bring all corporate employees back for full-time office work will do more harm than good for the company. On one hand, taking away the opportunity for people to work remotely can harm the company’s chances of attracting the best talent in the market. The choice of future candidates will be limited to people working in certain cities that have Amazon offices.
Justina Raskauskiene, Human Resources Team Lead at ecommerce marketing platform Omnisend, told YCB:
“Working remotely certainly saves commuting time so going back to the office could be a deal breaker for some of the current Amazon employees.
“Many people notice that individual tasks often get done faster at home than they would be done in the office. So some people can start to be less productive when they get back to the offices.
“However, on the positive side of things, many notice that in-person communication is much more efficient, leading to quicker decision-making. Many problems can be solved just by meeting a colleague in the office kitchen and discussing all the questions in person.
“Team productivity and cohesion, in my view, are also stronger when working on-site. There is a smaller chance of misunderstandings, which are quite common when you are only discussing things online.
“In addition, non-remote work helps organizations more easily nurture company culture. For example, for me as an HR representative in-person value training is much more effective than remote one, because it is much easier for me to make sure that nobody is distracted.”
