The end of teleworking at Amazon sparks discontent among some of its employees

Since January 2, the vast majority of Amazon employees have been forced to return to the office five days a week. The measure, which aims in particular to rebuild team cohesion, is currently a source of frustration.

My team members are very upset about the situationsays CJ Felli, software engineer at Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud services division of the e-commerce giant, based in Seattle.

Since 2023, Amazon employees, who mostly worked entirely remotely during the pandemic, could telework two days a week.

But since the start of the year, the company has demanded a complete return to the office.

The CEO d’Amazon, Andy Jassyannounced the decision last September. In a letter addressed to employees, he maintains that the benefits of being together in the office are important.

It’s easier for our colleagues to learn, shape, practice and strengthen our culture he says. Collaboration, brainstorming and innovation are easier and more effective. Teaching and mutual learning is more fluid and teams tend to be better connected to each other.

A lack of evidence, employees deplore

What we were told was that [le retour au bureau] increases collaboration between teams and innovationnotes M. Felli. But every time we ask for data, which is Amazon’s specialty, [pour appuyer ces affirmations]they are never willing to provide them.

The software engineer isn’t the only one opposing the recall to Amazon’s office. More than 500 of his colleagues signed a letter to CEO d’AWS, Matt Garmanto ask that he back down.

Mr. Felli believes that employees are happier and more productive when working from home. He would also like to maintain the flexibility that teleworking gives him.

I do the majority of my work that requires concentration at home and I find that breaking up the monotony [du bureau] helps me a lot personallyhe explains.

Teleworking losing momentum

Amazon is one of the largest companies to move toward a full return to the office, but other companies are making the same shift.

In September, Dell asked its global sales teams to be in the office five days a week. American telephone service provider AT&T has for its part put an end to teleworking in the last few days.

The Alberta business Gigadat boasts of having been ahead of the wave. Its employees have been in the office full-time for several years now.

We tried a hybrid model for a maximum of six months before gradually bringing people back to the officeexplains the company’s chief operating officer, Cliff Nywening.

When someone works remotely, they are disconnected from the conversation people are having in the conference roomestimates the manager. [Les échanges] face-to-face are so important.

Is the hybrid model still the solution?

According to Statistics Canada, last May, 18.7% of employed Canadians worked mainly at home. This proportion has been decreasing since 2021, but it remains twice as high as before the pandemic.

There are benefits to anything that keeps your staff fully engaged [dans l’entreprise]. And today, it seems to be a form of hybrid workestimated David Kingsenior general manager of the recruitment agency Robert Half in Toronto.

Open in full screen mode

According to a recent survey conducted by the firm, around 40% of workers surveyed prefer a hybrid model where they can work two or three days in the office, and the rest of the week at home.

The employers surveyed would like their employees to be in the office at least four days a week.

This dance between employee and employer preferences suggests we’re still figuring out what’s best. [de travail hybride]maintains Mr. King.

With reporting from Laura MacNaughton of CBC’s Nisha Patel