Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced updates on the company’s return to office plans on Friday.
Employees will be required to come into the office at least three days per week starting May 1, 2023.
“It’s hard to believe, but it’s been nearly three years since the pandemic began, and we recommended that all our employees who were able to work from home do so,” said Jassy.
The plans come after observations over the pandemic about how teams best work together.
“The guiding principle in these conversations was to prioritize what would best enable us to make customers’ lives better and easier every day, and relentlessly invent to do so,” said Jassy.
Amazon said they observed that being in person makes the company stronger and that it’s easier for employees to learn when they are surrounded by colleagues.
They also noticed that employees tended to be more engaged in meetings and communicated better when working in person. Collaborating and inventing were also more effective.
“Some of the best inventions have had their breakthrough moments from people staying behind in a meeting and working through ideas on a whiteboard, or walking back to an office together on the way back from the meeting, or just popping by a teammate’s office later that day with another thought,” Jassy said. “Invention is often sloppy. It wanders and meanders and marinates. Serendipitous interactions help it, and there are more of those in-person than virtually.”
Teams tend to work through hard trade-offs faster when they can map it out in a room together, said the company.
Jassy said he realizes that bringing back so many employees from around the world isn’t simple, so Amazon is giving certain teams time to develop a plan.
Amazon is optimistic that the shift will boost businesses located around its headquarters.
“Our communities matter to us, and where we can play a further role in helping them recover from the challenges of the last few years, we’re excited to do so,” Jassy said. “I know that for some employees, adjusting again to a new way of working will take some time. But I’m very optimistic about the positive impact this will have in how we serve and invent on behalf of customers, as well as on the growth and success of our employees.”
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