An overwhelming majority of Amazon employees are “dissatisfied” with the company requiring them to be in the office five days a week next year. That is according to a survey of 2,585 employees by Blind, an online community where verified employees can discuss their work culture anonymously. Since May, Amazon employees have been able to work remotely up to twice per week.On September 16, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy sent a memo to employees stating that Amazon would require most workers to come into the office five days a week at the start of 2025. “We’ve observed that it’s easier for our teammates to learn, model, practice, and strengthen our culture; collaborating, brainstorming, and inventing are simpler and more effective,” the memo said.From September 17 to 19, Blind surveyed 2,585 “verified Amazon professionals” in the US with yes or no questions about the policy and found widespread disapproval. In mid-2021, Amazon employed about 1 million people in the US, per an earnings report. In 2023, regulatory filings said Amazon had 1.5 million full- and part-time workers.
Per Blind, 73 percent of Amazon workers surveyed said they are “considering looking for another job” due to the RTO policy. Further, 80 percent of workers said that they know someone at Amazon who’s considering job hunting due to the policy. Interestingly, 32 percent of employees reported that they already know someone who quit in response to the impending five-day, in-office work week. Blind also noted that some of its users pointed to people dropping out of job interviews because Amazon won’t allow remote work.
“The advantages of being together in the office are significant,” Jassy wrote in the memo. “If anything, the last 15 months… has strengthened our conviction about the benefits.” Jassy’s memo said that part of the reason for shifting to fully in-person work is to “operate like the world’s largest startup.” However, there have been recent studies suggesting that RTO mandates hurt employee productivity and retention and hurt employee morale while failing to drive company value. Big names like Apple, Microsoft, and SpaceX reportedly lost senior talent due to RTO policies.
