Amazon WFH Policy

It's a failure to adapt to evolving work trends that emphasise flexibility and employee well-being.

I wouldn't say trends are evolving, just they changed during COVID and now they're changing back.

You can guarantee Amazon has ran the numbers and the pros outweigh the cons.

2 people that work with me that have been WFH are now very awkward around everyone on the odd day they come in. Teamwork has been lost completely in 1 department. These people have lost social skills, they're not leaving their houses.

There's defo an argument for getting people back

WFH is going nowhere. I would prioritise having minimum 3 days a week from home over any sizeable pay increase, if my employer mandated 5 days a week back in the office I would be looking for a new job immediately. Amazon obviously think the labour market is in their favour and they can get away with this right now but the minute it changes people will be leaving in their droves. Talented staff who would previously be attracted solely by a high salary and maybe interesting workload will now be highly prioritising WFH and flexibility there. I work in tech and wouldn't be queuing up for a job in Amazon regardless.

And thats ok. There will be plenty of others that will work directly with their teams in the office.

This is Amazon the company where it's staff use bottles for toilet breaks, and the staff have been trying to create unions to improve their working conditions. The company using Pips and layoffs to reduce numbers.

"…a practice known as “quiet firing.” If companies can create conditions that make some employees leave the company, they are likely to save money on severance costs. The risks of such a strategy are that talented employees may be pushed out of the company rather than offered the necessary coaching to thrive…"

Removing remote working is just another tactic of quiet firing to reduce headcount. It's got nothing to do with the pros and cons of anything.

I’m pretty sure future generations will look back, laugh, and seriously wonder what in the everloving f**k people were thinking when they claimed it was NOT GOOD for people to spend less time commuting and working in offices for giant corporations.

It is, but I presume we're talking about Amazon desk jobs which were previously WFH and hybrid. Seems your link and most of your post is related to warehouse jobs and conditions

For most people the relief of not having to spend time with the people in the office who's only social outlet is going to work drags on them! I have a social life, I see friends and family and get to spend more time with them than I ever did when I was stuck in an office with a bunch of annoying weirdos who spend there whole time interrupting and annoying everyone...the vast majority are more productive at home, happier and have more time not spent commuting, more money from lack of commuting also.

If that's what all your colleagues are like, I think you need to find another job where you are a better fit.

Agreed, it's downside in this regard is it's not targeted, so it could be random who decides to walk away

Some absolute losers and weirdos in this thread

‘Most people didn’t even know of WFH before Covid’ etc

Yes.. and who gives a flying fúck? They know about it now and it’s probably enhancing lives for the majority that have WFH access now

American companies top the polls as the best places to work in Ireland. Pfizer got it this year, and a little under half the top 20 are American. American companies in Ireland pay higher wages and better working conditions than Irish companies. I can post link if you want, but about 10% of the Irish workforce are employed in MNCs and those 10% are receiving 33% of the total wages paid.

Even your article shows that one US company has to pay half a million quid to a manager for not replying to an email. Hardly horrendous and hardly representative of all American companies.

No one is being weird, but your employer tells you where to work. It's one of the legal conditions of your employment. They're entitled to tell you to return to the office, and you're entitled to tell them to stuff it and then find another job.

WFH was forced on us in extreme times, that's whether you're in favour or against it, so returning to the office is a return to normality.

People called life during COVID "the new normal". WFH was part of that, but so was paying €7 for a meal so you could buy a pint, and wearing masks in shops. We've stopped all the other behaviour, why are we surprised this is stopping too?

Whatever about Amazon US, in Ireland employees now have the right to request remote work and the employer has to have a solid reason to refuse it.

Amazon (or any US company) in Ireland has to comply with Irish employment law. If Amazon want to order all their employees here back to an office 5 days a week, they will need more than "we pay your wages" to do so.

If someone has been working away remotely with no issue and is suddenly ordered back to an office full time for no other reason than "change of policy" they could take the employer to the WRC.

Then it is open to be challenged. They have to show a bit more than "we considered it".

It depends a lot on the individual country. Ireland has a much higher WFH percentage than a lot of other countries. Part of that reason is that it has been endorsed by the government as being a good thing for country in general. Remember the stories from years ago with people having to commute to Dublin 5 days per week. Spending more than a mortgage on childcare 5 days per week. The positives far outweigh the negatives.

Sure some American companies will try and force change and that will work in certain jurisdictions, but ultimately they will be a less attractive employer in the marketplace but it's their decision. Amazon seems to be regarded as having a terrible work culture anyway.

Hybrid WFH in Ireland is here to stay.

They really don't as recent case demonstrated. It's a toothless showboating bit of legislation..

not really, taking a case to the WRC would be a monumental waste of everyones time.

I don't think it's the govt. I've worked remotely long before COVID. I'd argue its more the concentration of tech companies and such. Also a lot of multi national companies. Where you're working with teams internationally. Also Ireland doesn't have that corporate culture mindset that you see in Japan or America.

Because it is an undeniable positive improvement both for employee well-being and happiness and for work efficiency and productivity.

It doesn't matter that people got it all of a sudden only recently, do you think a CEO would get very far in a shareholder meeting if they said "Yes, we did have a bumper year of profit in 2023, but we should aim to return to the normality of previous 5 years when we in the red"?

Removing WFH is for only two reasons - either quiet firing (as others have said in the thread) or because management hate having happy employees they can't control every minute of the work day (and outside of it):

Funny enough, I've never seen a proper metric that shows WFH increases profits.

depending on the location in the US there are tax breaks for companies the more they use their offices

I have worked for US companies most of my working life, almost 30 years, and I can tell you the only reason they are the best places to work in Ireland is that we have all the protection of labour laws on our side. If US complanies treated their Irish staff the same as those located in the US the polls would be reversed. I am not disagreeing with you, but the context of how we are protected is important. We do have the best of both worlds with a lot of these companies, we get all the perks of the US without the constant fear of getting called to a meeting on a Friday and told this is your last day without any real reason.