Amazon has often been rumored to be tough on its employees. Public revelations of this have embarrassed the house Jeff Bezos built. Amazon recently made a demand for some of its workers. Change the place where you work or get out.
Amazon has already told some workers they have to be in the office three days a week. This, by itself, affects people who moved far away from Amazon locations to be free to work from home every day. As is the case with many companies, these workers assumed the “work from home” plan was permanent. As many businesses across the country, they have found out that this is not true.
Amazon’s new plan is for workers to return to its largest office complexes. The Wall Street Journal writes, “Amazon.com AMZN 0.03%increase; green up pointing triangle has told employees across the company that they may have to relocate to main offices concentrated in bigger cities, an escalation of its efforts to bring workers back to the office in-person.”
Amazon is forcing the issue because it can. People who work remotely would need to find other jobs that pay them as much as their jobs at Amazon. That is not likely to be successful for everyone, given the thousands of people involved. (These are the the labor laws your boss doesn’t want you to know about.)
Companies with remote workers have primarily made one of two decisions. They can save money by eliminating the rent of physical office locations. Alternatively, companies have decided that work is more efficient and people work more effectively when together. There is little evidence to support either point of view.
The battle over where people work has become known as a tug-of-war between management and workers. Remote workers have as their primary argument that if enough of them decide not to come back to offices, it will cripple the ability of companies to run well at all. Management’s gamble is that people are afraid to lose their jobs altogether.
Amazon is betting the latter is the case. (These industries are laying off the most workers.)
Want to Retire Early? Start Here (Sponsor)
Want retirement to come a few years earlier than you’d planned? Or are you ready to retire now, but want an extra set of eyes on your finances?
Now you can speak with up to 3 financial experts in your area for FREE. By simply clicking here you can begin to match with financial professionals who can help you build your plan to retire early. And the best part? The first conversation with them is free.
Click here to match with up to 3 financial pros who would be excited to help you make financial decisions.
Have questions about retirement or personal finance? Email us at [email protected]!
By emailing your questions to 24/7 Wall St., you agree to have them published anonymously on a673b.bigscoots-temp.com.
By submitting your story, you understand and agree that we may use your story, or versions of it, in all media and platforms, including via third parties.
Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.
Latest from 24/7
