Amazon’s Return-to-Office Strategy: Expert Insights on Remote Work Challenges

Amazon recently told its corporate employees that they had to return to working in the company’s offices five days a week starting in January. In his memo to employees explaining a shift from 3 days to 5-days a week in the office, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy highlighted that remote work can impede successful collaboration.

Liz Lyons, associated professor of management at the School of Global Policy and Strategy says, “While consistent with research I have conducted, these impediments are largest among teams that have not previously worked together and when managers do not step in to help facilitate successful initial interactions.”

She added, “It is frequently the case that managers and executives have not adapted their managerial and organizational approaches to remote and hybrid work to reduce the downsides. As workers are becoming more accommodating of employer demands with changing labor market conditions, many employers are allocating the blame and cost of hybrid work performance gaps onto workers. This is a lost opportunity, especially in the longer term, as it limits employer flexibility and relinquishes large potential cost benefits that could result from hard but short-term adjustments.”