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I'm of 2 minds on this. Not everyone can compete remotely and some jobs genuinely require in person collaboration, but whether or not this is a good idea really

I'm of 2 minds on this. Not everyone can compete remotely and some jobs genuinely require in person collaboration, but whether or not this is a good idea really depends on Amazon's strategy, which most of us might not be privy to. We can assume a company of this size and this portfolio should be able to compete with remote workers, but that might only be true for a certain period of time.

dvfjsdhgfv 2y ago
You can be of 2 minds but fortunately employees have a choice and companies too. I will never work for a company that requires me to come to their (probably open-plan) office, period. Those who insist, lose senior staff, period.
JohnFen 2y ago
But from many employee's point of view, none of those considerations matter. They have become aware of how awful and soul-sucking offices can be and the impact that has on their lives even outside of work. That's what matters to them, as it should. Of course, a company can have any policy they want, and people who can't live with those policies have no choice but to seek employment elsewhere. From a cold business perspective, the real question Amazon and such have to answer is if the loss of those employees is something that they are OK with. It sounds like Amazon's answer to that question is "absolutely yes".
- the8472 2y ago
  Well, in some ways WFH made offices more soul-sucking because it's a lot of shared desks now. Personal desk, locker, plants, other custom office clutter, a door and so on were nicer.
- lucianbr 2y ago
  Amazon's current answer. Companies or their managers sometimes get a reality check after some confident answer like this. Not as often as we employees would like, but still. Remember those people who tought there was a worldwide market for about 5 computers? Or those who invested with SBF, because playing computer games during high level meetings is proof of... something?
bryanlarsen 2y ago
Many RTO mandates are worst of both worlds: hot-desking, lots of Zoom calls. I'm not sure where Amazon lies on that scale, but if I was forced back into the office just to Zoom from there, I'd be pissed.
- pratnala 2y ago
  They are also scrapping hot desking.
- consteval 2y ago
  > I'm not sure where Amazon lies on that scale The issue is Amazon is a huge company, so even if you're working in an office you're still practically "remote" from most other workers. So when you need to work together, you have to do it the remote way, ala zoom.
  - bryanlarsen 2y ago
    Yes, but are their teams co-located? inter-team meetings should be a lot rarer than intra-team meetings.

dvfjsdhgfv 2y ago

You can be of 2 minds but fortunately employees have a choice and companies too. I will never work for a company that requires me to come to their (probably open-plan) office, period. Those who insist, lose senior staff, period.

JohnFen 2y ago

But from many employee's point of view, none of those considerations matter. They have become aware of how awful and soul-sucking offices can be and the impact that has on their lives even outside of work. That's what matters to them, as it should. Of course, a company can have any policy they want, and people who can't live with those policies have no choice but to seek employment elsewhere. From a cold business perspective, the real question Amazon and such have to answer is if the loss of those employees is something that they are OK with. It sounds like Amazon's answer to that question is "absolutely yes".

the8472 2y ago
Well, in some ways WFH made offices more soul-sucking because it's a lot of shared desks now. Personal desk, locker, plants, other custom office clutter, a door and so on were nicer.
lucianbr 2y ago
Amazon's current answer. Companies or their managers sometimes get a reality check after some confident answer like this. Not as often as we employees would like, but still. Remember those people who tought there was a worldwide market for about 5 computers? Or those who invested with SBF, because playing computer games during high level meetings is proof of... something?

bryanlarsen 2y ago

Many RTO mandates are worst of both worlds: hot-desking, lots of Zoom calls. I'm not sure where Amazon lies on that scale, but if I was forced back into the office just to Zoom from there, I'd be pissed.

pratnala 2y ago
They are also scrapping hot desking.
consteval 2y ago
> I'm not sure where Amazon lies on that scale The issue is Amazon is a huge company, so even if you're working in an office you're still practically "remote" from most other workers. So when you need to work together, you have to do it the remote way, ala zoom.
- bryanlarsen 2y ago
  Yes, but are their teams co-located? inter-team meetings should be a lot rarer than intra-team meetings.