Amazon has announced that corporate staff will now be required to work from the office five days a week, marking a departure from the company's previous hybrid model, which allowed for three days in the office.
CEO Andy Jassy communicated the new policy to employees in a memo on Monday, giving them until January 2 to transition to the five-day in-office schedule.
The updated policy will apply to all corporate employees except in "extenuating circumstances", or in cases where an exception has been granted by an S-team leader. The S-team consists of senior executives who report directly to Jassy.
Jassy noted that before the pandemic, remote work was not a common option and the expectation moving forward is for employees to be present in the office unless extraordinary circumstances prevent it.
In addition to the return-to-office mandate, Amazon is also restructuring its corporate hierarchy. The company plans to reduce the number of managers and "flatten" its organization, with each S-team unit expected to increase the ratio of individual contributors to managers by at least 15% by the first quarter of 2025.
This move is intended to streamline decision-making processes and foster faster, more agile operations.
It remains unclear whether these changes will lead to job reductions among managers, as Amazon has yet to comment on potential layoffs.
This announcement follows a period of rapid workforce expansion at Amazon during the pandemic, followed by significant cost-cutting measures under Jassy's leadership, including the company's largest layoffs to date. As of the second quarter, Amazon's workforce totaled 1.53 million employees, a 5% increase from the previous year, in contrast to a 14% expansion the year prior.
Jassy framed the new policies as necessary steps to maintain Amazon's culture of innovation and urgency. He highlighted the importance of efficient collaboration and ownership in achieving Amazon's goals. To that end, Amazon has introduced a "bureaucracy mailbox," a dedicated channel to identify and eliminate unnecessary processes within the organisation.
"We want to operate like the world’s largest startup," Jassy wrote. “That means focusing on invention, urgency, ownership, and connected collaboration to solve tough problems together.”