Amazon employees furious at return-to-office warning
Amazon sparked renewed outrage among company employees after warning some workers that they “currently do not” meet the “expectation” of working at least three days a week in an assigned office.
Amazon on Wednesday sent an email to workers who allegedly violated the company’s office attendance requirements, which went into effect in May.
“We are reaching out to you because you are currently not meeting our expectations of being in the office with your colleagues at least three days a week, even though your assigned building is ready,” read the message, according to screenshots circulating online Anonymous Business Forum Blind.
The email warning appeared to reignite tensions within the e-commerce giant, with some employees claiming they had received the message by mistake. Amazon employees had already staged a strike in May to protest the return to the office.
“Is this supposed to scare people?” wrote an Amazon employee, according to a screenshot in an internal Slack channel seen by Insider.
Another Amazon employee reportedly called the email “the supreme absurdity” and argued the messages were sent in error to many workers who were actually abiding by the attendance policy.
Others questioned whether the warnings were a sign of more layoffs or even stricter attendance requirements, according to insiders.
Some workers raised an internal ticket asking if the attendance alerts were being sent due to a bug in the system.
In response to the concerns, Amazon said the RTO email was sent to employees who had checked in to their assigned office five or more times less than three days per week in the past eight weeks or who failed to meet the three-day deadline had weekly needs for three or more of the last four weeks, even though the building is finished.
Amazon also admitted that some of the warnings could have been sent in error.
“While we have taken several steps to ensure this email reaches the correct recipients, we recognize that there may be instances where we get it wrong,” the company added. “If you believe you have received this email in error, please contact your manager to discuss your situation and ensure that the system accurately reflects it.”
The presence alerts are just one element of Amazon’s strict push to return to the office.
Amazon executives have begun telling some employees they may have to relocate to a central “hub” or leave the company, The Information reported, citing a source with direct knowledge of the matter. Affected workers reportedly have until September 15 to make a decision on the directive.
The e-commerce giant has already laid off about 27,000 employees since last fall, including a wave of about 9,000 cuts announced in March.
