Amazon calls everyone back five days a week
Brian was at Amazon Accelerate in Seattle when the announcement dropped: CEO Andy Jassy told 1.5 million employees to return to the office five days a week starting January 2025. The reaction inside the conference was immediate. Employees who had relocated or built their lives around hybrid work were reading the memo in real time. The chatter extended beyond Amazon to the entire tech industry and beyond.
It is easier for our teammates to learn, model, practice, and strengthen our culture. Collaborating, brainstorming, and inventing are simpler and more effective. Teaching and learning from one another are more seamless. Teams tend to be better connected to one another.
Andy Jassy, CEO, Amazon
Andy Hoar noted that four years ago, the question was how anyone could be productive working from home. Now companies are trying to recapture something they believe was lost, but the argument is qualitative, not quantitative.
The productivity data is not there
Resume Builder found that business executives believe by roughly three to one that being in the office improves productivity. But Brian and Andy could not find data showing that five-day in-office work is more productive than two or three days. Amazon is famously data-driven, yet Jassy’s memo cited culture and collaboration, not productivity metrics. If the data existed, the hosts argued, Amazon would have shared it.
Remote work reshaped the labor market
The pandemic-era shift to remote work had structural effects. It enabled workers to live in lower-cost areas, expanding the talent pool. When Brian lived in Silicon Valley, companies struggled to recruit because no one could afford housing. Remote work let companies hire in places like Boise, where employees could own homes. It also brought more women into the workforce: 78% of working-age women are now employed, up from 75% five years earlier, because working mothers can balance caregiving and work from home. Workers with disabilities also gained access to jobs they could not have held with daily commutes.
Return-to-office is driving away the most productive workers
Unispace found that 42% of companies with return-to-office mandates experienced higher turnover than expected. Upwork reported that 63% of C-suite leaders said their policies led to a disproportionate number of women leaving, and 57% said this hurt productivity. The irony is bitter: working mothers are the most productive segment, and return-to-office mandates are driving them out, which reduces the productivity the mandates were meant to improve.
The original intent here was to make the company more productive, but return-to-office mandates have driven away the most productive segment of their employees, which has had the reverse effect of reducing productivity.
Andy Hoar, Master B2B
The balance of power has shifted
Tech employment has cooled. According to layoffs.fyi, 124,000 tech employees were laid off in 2024, adding to 428,000 who lost jobs in 2022 and 2023. Software developer job postings have dropped sharply. The Wall Street Journal recently reported on the decline in demand for developers, partly due to AI-assisted coding. When labor supply exceeds demand, employers set the terms. If Amazon says five days a week, employees who want to stay have to comply.
Is this really about productivity or headcount reduction?
A LinkedIn poll asked whether Amazon’s mandate is primarily about productivity or a clever way to achieve a reduction in force. The result: 67% said it is mostly about headcount reduction. If employees who relocated or prefer remote work leave voluntarily, Amazon saves billions in severance. A Blind survey of 2,500 verified Amazon employees found that only 9% were happy with the policy, and 73% were considering looking for another job.
Brian noted that Amazon is the second-largest private employer in the United States, behind Walmart. Millions of warehouse employees cannot work from home, and the optics of executives working remotely while warehouse workers commute may have played a role in the decision. But the hosts remained skeptical that five days in the office, rather than two or three, is more productive.