Amazon Faces Backlash Over Office Attendance Mandate
Amazon has once again found itself in hot water with its corporate employees after sending out a warning email to workers who were not meeting the company’s office attendance requirement. The email, which was sent on Wednesday, stated that these employees were “not currently meeting our expectation of joining your colleagues in the office at least three days a week, even though your assigned building is ready.”
Screenshots of the message have been circulating on the anonymous corporate message board Blind, reigniting tensions within the e-commerce giant. Some employees claim to have received the email by mistake, while others see it as an attempt to intimidate. “Is this supposed to scare people?” questioned one Amazon employee in an internal Slack channel.
The email has been described by another employee as “peak absurdity,” with arguments that it was mistakenly sent to many workers who were actually complying with the attendance policy. Concerns have also been raised about potential layoffs or stricter attendance requirements.
In response to the backlash, Amazon clarified that the email was sent to employees who had failed to meet the three-day-a-week requirement for five or more of the previous eight weeks, or for three or more of the last four weeks despite their assigned building being ready. The company acknowledged that some warnings may have been sent out in error.
“While we’ve taken several steps to ensure this email went to the correct recipients, we recognize that there may be instances where we have it wrong,” Amazon stated. Employees who believe they received the email in error were encouraged to reach out to their managers to discuss their situation.
It’s important to note that these attendance warnings are just one aspect of Amazon’s strict return-to-office push. The company has also informed some employees that they must relocate to a central “hub” or leave the company by September 15. This policy decision comes after Amazon has already laid off approximately 27,000 employees since last fall.
The e-commerce giant continues to face criticism and pushback from its workforce as it navigates the challenges of transitioning back to in-person work.