More than a week after Amazon’s announcement that employees would be mandated to return to the office five days a week, the move is still the subject of debate.
While Amazon is not the first employer to make such a demand, and the debate around a mandated return to the office is certainly not new, this has become quite a contentious subject. Amazon CEO, Andy Jassy, first mandated staff return to the office three days a week 15 months ago. According to a statement issued by Amazon announcing the extension to five days, this is aimed at improving team work and interactions, as well as strengthening the organisation’s culture.
In some respects, mandating a five-day return to the office seems at odds with Amazon’s desire to position itself as a flexible employer. In the UK, for example, its term-time working arrangements and Amazon Anytime flexible part-time contract based on a minimum 80-hour month, which enables employees to pick and mix shifts to suit their needs, be it full or part day, night or day, weekday or weekend, provide staff working in its fulfilment centres with the flexibility to manage work around their personal life. While this level of flexibility may not be appropriate for all roles, it is certainly a very different approach than that shown to those affected by the mandatory return to the office.
Although individuals on full-time contracts may, by their very nature, have less flexibility around working hours, this doesn’t mean flexibility around how and where they work is any less important to them. Arguably, if someone is working full-time hours, being able to easily switch between work and home lives may be even more crucial.
In his statement to staff, Jassy outlined that the new working arrangements wouldn’t come into effect until January 2025 to give individuals who may have set up their personal lives around hybrid working arrangements time to make the necessary adjustments to accommodate returning to the office five days per week.
But, I wonder how many will actually look to rearrange elements of their lives, and how many will actively seek to move to an employer that enables them to maintain their current work-life arrangements?
While there are undoubtedly advantages to teams physically working together, following Amazon’s announcement, analysis by digital PR agency Reboot Online found Google searches for ‘legal right to work from home’ increased by 3,950% on the previous seven days.
The global workforce report by global HR platform provider Remote, which was published this week, meanwhile, found 84% of the 4,000 business leaders surveyed reported an increased demand for greater flexibility from employees. In addition, 43% of respondents from office-based organisations admitted to struggling to find suitable candidates to fill vacancies, compared to 33% of organisations that offer remote or hybrid working.
Many employees have now become so used to a more flexible approach to work that it may be difficult to accept returning to more rigid arrangements.
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So, by openly stating its aim to return to pre-Covid working arrangements is Amazon moving to an outdated model or setting itself up for future success?
Debbie Lovewell-Tuck
Editor
@DebbieLovewell