The said article is based on an interview with an Amazon employee in Germany who spoke anonymously to protect their privacy. Their identities 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 return to office order would come in 2025. That’s because leadership had made it clear that this was the way they were going to do it. take with the last order. , and in the last few months, things have become more complicated.
In Germany, Amazon began implementing a mandate requiring us to be in the office three days a week in June, but unlike in the US, we don’t have to be 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 used as a tool to quietly retire, as I have seen many bright engineers leave the company after the final 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 work schedule 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 job to the best of their ability. I see the importance of meeting occasionally and brainstorming, but other than that, it’s not necessary to work in an office all the time.
The new order will be difficult for many people who have left the office during the pandemic, have childcare commitments, or have social anxiety and are now forced into the office.
In addition to the RTO announcement, I just found out in the news that Amazon plans to reduce the number of middle managers by 15%, so it was a surprise because we already have a resource problem. 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 further, it will make things 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, you won’t you work creatively, or involve participants.
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 are adding to the tension.
I think other Big Tech companies will follow Amazon’s suit and require employees to return to the office five days a week as well.
An Amazon spokesperson told Business Insider that they’ve realized that being in an office together makes 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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