While Amazon’s employees are now gearing up for a return to the office five days a week from January, subsidiary Audible is giving its staff a little more time to comply.
The audiobook specialist is following its parent company’s strict RTO mandate, but employees will have until April 2, 2025 to enjoy their present flexibility.
Amazon staff have hit out at their employer’s draconian RTO measures, with some claiming that the new rules are even stricter than those they worked by before the pandemic.
Pre-Pandemic Policies
The news was relayed to Audible’s staff in an email from CEO Bob Carrigan, who explained that the current two-day a week mandate for office working is going.
The company is creating more space for workers at its Newark office and will be able to accommodate workers for three days a week from January.
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Business Insider has noted the message and quotes Carrigan saying that the move is a bid to “ramp up to our pre-pandemic ways of working… as we increase in-person collaboration on our numerous critical initiatives.”
Complaints Falling on Deaf Ears
These words echo those of Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, who has ploughed ahead with his RTO policy despite widespread disgruntlement and a walkout in June 2023. On the walkout website, the Amazon Employees for Climate Justice (AECJ) and Amazon’s Remote Advocacy demanded that their employer not cycle back on what they see as progress in the workplace. They wrote: “The world is changing, and Amazon needs to embrace the new reality of remote and flexible work if it wants to remain an innovative company that attracts and retains world-class talent.”
They also stated that the RTO mandate will affect certain groups disproportionately. “Many of us, including women, people of color, and workers with disabilities report that having autonomy in where we work improves not only our relationship with it, but also our ability to be seen and treated as equals,” they explained.
Staggered Starts
Amazon has pushed ahead, and the timeframes seem to have been dictated by the logistics of such a monumental RTO after years of hybrid working and not by an attempt to lessen the blow for staff.
Amazon, Audible and another subsidiary, One Medical, have given their staff different return dates; but this reflects the juggling and finding of new space required to have all of the staff present all of the week.
Fall in Line or Leave
Jassey has made clear that staff must comply, unless there are mitigating circumstances including a house emergency or sick child.
Dell has taken an even harder line and was considering tracking staff attendance using a color-coding system. Some companies, including Spotify and Microsoft, are taking a softer approach, and it remains to be seen whether what they offer is tempting for other workers facing a five day week back in an office.
