Amazon delays return-to-office plans as it struggles with space capacity issues

Amazon.com is probably having difficulties complying with the mandatory office presence requirement in the USA that was announced in September. The attendance requirement was to apply from January 2025, and employees who have often worked from home up to now will have to return to the office (RTO, return to office). However, it is now becoming apparent that the Group does not have enough space available in many US cities to accommodate returnees five days a week. As a result, the RTO date for thousands of employees has been postponed by up to four months.

In mid-September, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy informed employees that the days of working from home are over. From next year, five days in the office will be mandatory at Amazon. After the end of the pandemic, Amazon had already introduced a 3-day office requirement. Now it will be five days a week again. The CEO suggested that anyone who didn't like this should resign. That's "fine, there are other companies."

However, the boss was obviously expecting more redundancies, as it is now apparent that not all those returning from working from home have suitable jobs. The company has informed some employees in at least seven US cities that their return to the office has been postponed, in some cases by four months. This was reported by Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter.

Dissatisfaction with office duty

Amazon employs around 1.5 million people in total. This includes more than 350,000 office workers worldwide, most of them in the USA. It is not yet clear how many are affected by the RTO shifts. An Amazon spokesperson stated that the vast majority of office workers will have a desk on January 2. Nevertheless, many Amazon employees are unhappy with the attendance requirement, as there are more flexible solutions in this industry. They have shown in recent years that it is also possible to work effectively from home.

Some employees are therefore relieved about the postponement of the office obligation. Employees in Dallas, for example, were told that there was not enough space in the office on all five days until March or April. Some employees would not have enough space for full-time work in the Manhattan office until May. Office workers in Atlanta, Nashville and Houston have been warned that there won't be enough space for everyone when they return in January, Business Insider reports.

Space problems even with 3-day office obligation

Even the previous 3-day office requirement has led to bottlenecks at workstations, according to some employees. Employees have complained about shared desks, overcrowded canteens and too few conference rooms for confidential phone calls with customers or staff meetings. To address these complaints, Amazon has rented office space from WeWork in New York and California on a temporary basis in recent weeks, a WeWork spokesperson confirmed.

However, an Amazon spokesperson explained that in most cases, the RTO shifts are due to the fact that the offices were previously geared towards employing part-time staff. This simply had to be changed accordingly. There is no shortage of available office space.

(fds)