9 ms·

Andy Jassey Calls for Amazon to Return to Office

29 points by base698 4y ago

uptownfunk 4y ago
I don't think this is as big of a deal as it sounds. Many will get approved for remote location. The rest I am sure will want to come back to the office. And I'm sure there are a good amount of managers who won't really care as long as you're getting your work done. Meaning I wonder how this will be enforced and at what level if at all. Given that a senior leadership team was mentioned I expect this will be tracked at a senior level with metrics and all that, so I'm guessing now it will be more enforced than not.
- olliej 4y ago
  Then let the people who want to work in the office work in the office. Let the people who don't work from home. That will even reduce the number of people you're trying to fit into a building, making offices possible once more, so the people who do need to be in the office get a better working environment as well.
  - loloquwowndueo 4y ago
    If most people don’t go back to the office, most people in the office will spend most of their time in video calls, which defeats the purpose.
    - seanmcdirmid 4y ago
      The same will happen if most people don't go back to the same office. They will be in different offices on video calls all the time to each other.
    - burnished 4y ago
      That seems to suggest going back to the office isnt a great idea?
      - loloquwowndueo 4y ago
        I’m glad to see someone got my point :)
        burnished 4y ago
        I see, you fell afoul of that thing where <CLEARLY_SATIRICAL_NOTION> has also been presented as a straightforward and earnest position by some one else.
    - thunky 4y ago
      That assumes that most people spend most of their time on video calls now. Which hopefully isn't true. And if it is true, all of the points that Jassy makes suggests that they are doing remote collaboration wrong. For example: holding meetings instead of working together, which is just as possible to do effectively remotely as in person.
    - olliej 4y ago
      Given my job isn't to spend all days in meetings, why would making me go back to the office change that? Moreover, when I am in the office, and have meetings, I'm still video calling to other people. The _only_ thing being in the office does is mean I lose 4 hours a day driving to and from that office. For no reason at all. The only communication an office allows - for me - that is impossible remotely, is the kind where one person decides they're more important than their coworkers, or their coworker's work and starts interrupting everyone around them.
- ghaff 4y ago
  >Many will get approved for remote location. Well, that is not what he writes.
- Cyph0n 4y ago
  Read his original message here: https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/andy-jassy-update-on-amazon-return-to-office https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/andy-jassy-upd... Regarding remote work: “Of course, as there were before the pandemic, there will still be certain roles (e.g. some of our salespeople, customer support, etc.) and exceptions to these expectations, but that will be a small minority.”
- o10449366 4y ago
  If I get approved for a remote location I get a huge paycut, despite continuing to pay the same taxes and COL in the same location.
olliej 4y ago
"Collaborating and inventing is easier and more effective when we’re in person" Really? Do you have actual stats to back that claim up? Because the same claim is made by a variety of consulting firms about a variety of open office and similar plans that executives love, and literally every single study ever performed by someone who wasn't a consultant being paid to justify making everyone's work environment worse, has shown that they do the exact opposite.
- 40acres 4y ago
  I don’t know how to quantify it but I have definitely noticed an increase in productivity. I don’t need my whole team in the office but a few key people once a week was a game changer.
  - olliej 4y ago
    If there's an increase in productivity you should be able to point to it. Otherwise you may just be interpreting "I see people talking" as being "I'm seeing collaboration happening" - essentially experiencing confirmation bias or similar.
  - sumthinprofound 4y ago
    this has been my experience as well.
- whywhywhywhy 4y ago
  Have you even been on a video call? The fact information flows at best 50% speed because of delays, lack of mannerisms and that one person at once can speak and a 2 second gap ends up happening between each statement this slowness is completely tangible to anyone who has tried to get work done with this trash tech. IRL communication that takes seconds to minutes takes 30-40 minutes over a video call.
  - ghaff 4y ago
    Pretty much everyone I communicate with is spread out over a great number of locations. Going back to "the office" would mean I did video calls from the office (annoying other people).
macintux 4y ago
I think there are enough posts on this by now. * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34838828 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34838828 * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34838551 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34838551 * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34837551 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34837551
- Cyph0n 4y ago
  I visited the front page multiple times today, and this is the only thread I’ve seen. Are downvotes pushing these down to later pages?

29 points by base698 4y ago

I don't think this is as big of a deal as it sounds. Many will get approved for remote location. The rest I am sure will want to come back to the office. And I'm sure there are a good amount of managers who won't really care as long as you're getting your work done. Meaning I wonder how this will be enforced and at what level if at all. Given that a senior leadership team was mentioned I expect this will be tracked at a senior level with metrics and all that, so I'm guessing now it will be more enforced than not.

olliej 4y ago
Then let the people who want to work in the office work in the office. Let the people who don't work from home. That will even reduce the number of people you're trying to fit into a building, making offices possible once more, so the people who do need to be in the office get a better working environment as well.
- loloquwowndueo 4y ago
  If most people don’t go back to the office, most people in the office will spend most of their time in video calls, which defeats the purpose.
  - seanmcdirmid 4y ago
    The same will happen if most people don't go back to the same office. They will be in different offices on video calls all the time to each other.
  - burnished 4y ago
    That seems to suggest going back to the office isnt a great idea?
    - loloquwowndueo 4y ago
      I’m glad to see someone got my point :)
      - burnished 4y ago
        I see, you fell afoul of that thing where <CLEARLY_SATIRICAL_NOTION> has also been presented as a straightforward and earnest position by some one else.
  - thunky 4y ago
    That assumes that most people spend most of their time on video calls now. Which hopefully isn't true. And if it is true, all of the points that Jassy makes suggests that they are doing remote collaboration wrong. For example: holding meetings instead of working together, which is just as possible to do effectively remotely as in person.
  - olliej 4y ago
    Given my job isn't to spend all days in meetings, why would making me go back to the office change that? Moreover, when I am in the office, and have meetings, I'm still video calling to other people. The _only_ thing being in the office does is mean I lose 4 hours a day driving to and from that office. For no reason at all. The only communication an office allows - for me - that is impossible remotely, is the kind where one person decides they're more important than their coworkers, or their coworker's work and starts interrupting everyone around them.
ghaff 4y ago
>Many will get approved for remote location. Well, that is not what he writes.
Cyph0n 4y ago
Read his original message here: https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/andy-jassy-update-on-amazon-return-to-office https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/company-news/andy-jassy-upd... Regarding remote work: “Of course, as there were before the pandemic, there will still be certain roles (e.g. some of our salespeople, customer support, etc.) and exceptions to these expectations, but that will be a small minority.”
o10449366 4y ago
If I get approved for a remote location I get a huge paycut, despite continuing to pay the same taxes and COL in the same location.

olliej 4y ago

"Collaborating and inventing is easier and more effective when we’re in person" Really? Do you have actual stats to back that claim up? Because the same claim is made by a variety of consulting firms about a variety of open office and similar plans that executives love, and literally every single study ever performed by someone who wasn't a consultant being paid to justify making everyone's work environment worse, has shown that they do the exact opposite.

40acres 4y ago
I don’t know how to quantify it but I have definitely noticed an increase in productivity. I don’t need my whole team in the office but a few key people once a week was a game changer.
- olliej 4y ago
  If there's an increase in productivity you should be able to point to it. Otherwise you may just be interpreting "I see people talking" as being "I'm seeing collaboration happening" - essentially experiencing confirmation bias or similar.
- sumthinprofound 4y ago
  this has been my experience as well.
whywhywhywhy 4y ago
Have you even been on a video call? The fact information flows at best 50% speed because of delays, lack of mannerisms and that one person at once can speak and a 2 second gap ends up happening between each statement this slowness is completely tangible to anyone who has tried to get work done with this trash tech. IRL communication that takes seconds to minutes takes 30-40 minutes over a video call.
- ghaff 4y ago
  Pretty much everyone I communicate with is spread out over a great number of locations. Going back to "the office" would mean I did video calls from the office (annoying other people).

macintux 4y ago

I think there are enough posts on this by now. * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34838828 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34838828 * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34838551 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34838551 * https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34837551 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34837551

Cyph0n 4y ago
I visited the front page multiple times today, and this is the only thread I’ve seen. Are downvotes pushing these down to later pages?