SEATTLE — Gone are the days of hybrid work at Amazon: corporate workers will soon be required to work from the office five days a week.
Currently, corporate employees are only required to be in the office three days a week.
"Before the pandemic, it was not a given that folks could work remotely two days a week, and that will also be true moving forward—our expectation is that people will be in the office outside of extenuating circumstances," said Andy Jassy, the CEO of Amazon, in a statement Monday.
He added, "We understand that some of our teammates may have set up their personal lives in such a way that returning to the office consistently five days per week will require some adjustments. To help ensure a smooth transition, we’re going to make this new expectation active on Jan. 2, 2025."
Last year, when Amazon executives started phasing a return-to-office mandate back in, many employees left the company. Will that happen again? Amid this transition, Amazon told KING 5 that it may discover that certain jobs are no longer necessary. That’s something that a current Amazon employee said Monday they believe is by design.
"We're just going to lose a lot of really good people because of this, and not because they want to leave. They're kind of being forced to," said the corporate employee, who spoke to us on the condition of anonymity for concern of retaliation. "I think it probably costs a lot less to have people choose to leave on their own rather than having to do forced layoffs.”
The worker also believes working parents, especially single parents, will be disproportionately impacted by a full return requirement.
"We're all over the state," they said. "If you're a parent or if you're a caregiver, it's going to be a huge impact, a huge impact."
As Washington’s biggest employer, Amazon's decisions influence many in communities along the Puget Sound area-- even those who do not work for Amazon.
A full return-to-office will likely worsen traffic in and around Seattle, according to Adriano Tori, an experienced real estate broker. He said it will also contribute to a hotter housing market in these areas.
"We will see at least 20% of [Amazon] staffers looking to relocate within a 45-minute commute to the workplace," said Tori. "This, accompanied by the decrease of interest rates, will lead into a market of multiple offers on property purchase and increase in rental rates by the end of the year."
But downtown associations are rejoicing.
"More people means more economic activity," said Patrick Bannon, President and CEO of Bellevue Downtown Association. "We already saw a big uptick in pedestrian traffic when they went to three days a week.”
He continued, "This step really reflects their commitment to the community.”
Similarly, across Lake Washington, the Downtown Seattle Association calls this “a home run for downtown.”
Jon Scholes, CEO and President of Downtown Seattle Association, said Monday, "When Amazon moved to three days per week in May ‘23, the impact was huge, particularly in the Denny Regrade and South Lake Union neighborhoods. Bringing people back five days per week is going to be great for small businesses, restaurants and arts and culture, and will add to the overall vibrancy of downtown."
The current Amazon employee said many of their colleagues are now discussing their desire to look for work elsewhere.
"I know some friends that spend a lot of time on LinkedIn today," they said. "We're going to lose some really top-quality people and leadership because of this.”
If history repeats itself, however, hybrid tech workers at other companies in western Washington could see their decision-makers follow in Amazon's footsteps and up their requirements.
Jassy explained Monday that this decision was made in hopes of improving innovation, collaboration and connectedness among Amazon teammates.
There may also be room for remote days going forward. Jassy said before the pandemic, if, for example, you or your child were sick or if you had a family emergency, it was understood that you had to work remotely for a day or two. He said that will continue to be understood after this new requirement goes into effect next year.