February 23, 2023
Amazon employees are reportedly unhappy with the company’s decision to implement a sudden return-to-office policy.
The policy was announced earlier in the month, and some employees have expressed dismay, citing concerns about their health and safety amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Many employees had adapted to working from home and feel that the sudden change will be disruptive to their routines. Amazon, however, has defended its decision, saying that it is in the best interest of the company and its customers.
Amazon employees formed a Slack channel and drafted an internal petition to oppose the mandate, which requires them to return to work at least three days a week beginning May 1. The petition asks Jassy and Amazon’s leadership team, known as the S-team, to withdraw the mandate, which was announced just days ago. Since then, the group has grown to 16,000 members, with approximately 5,000 employees signing the petition as of Tuesday night.
Employees have also written a petition to Jassy and the S-team, requesting that the new policy be dropped because it “runs contrary” to Amazon’s positions on diversity and inclusion, affordable housing, sustainability, and being the “Earth’s Best Employer.”
“We, the undersigned, call for Amazon to protect its role and status as a global retail and tech leader by immediately cancelling the RTO policy and issuing a new policy that allows employees to work remotely or more flexibly, if they choose to do so, as their team and job role permits,” according to a draft of the petition.
The sources for this piece include an article in CNBC.
