Amazon Mandates Staff to Return to Office Five Days a Week

Starting from the 2nd of January 2025, Amazon’s staff will be returning to the office five days a week as Chief Executive Andy Jassy ends the hybrid work policy in an employee memo to staff, hoping to “boost employee training, bolster collaboration, and strengthen corporate culture”.

He also said that he was worried that Amazon, which has long prided itself on preserving the intensity of a start-up while growing to become a tech giant, was seeing its corporate culture diluted by flexible work and too many bureaucratic layers.

What would be the impact of such enforcement by Amazon from an employee benefits perspective? This Pacific Prime article will delve deep into the issue, and provide an analysis of the advantages of having a competitive employee benefits package in the current workplace landscape.

Impacts of Return-to-Office (RTO) Mandate

Unsurprisingly, there was an instantaneous backlash from the employees, showing a great deal of dissatisfaction towards Jassy and the RTO mandate. Many of them have adjusted to the hybrid work mode— some vowed to quit, and some are willing to forgo flexible work arrangements for a salary raise.

The newly implemented mandate is perceived to put Amazon in a disadvantageous position in the job market. According to recent research, among employees with jobs that can be done remotely, 43% work hybrid, 35% work in the office full-time, and 22% work fully remote.

Abandoning hybrid work policies will inevitably bring adverse effects on employee experience such as recruiting, retention, morale, and diversity, impacting productivity. The effect will be especially evident for high-performers, women, and millennials, who greatly value flexibility in their jobs.

Employees have claimed greater productivity and reduced burnout as primary benefits of flexible work arrangements. Women and millennials reported having more focused time to work, and individuals reported having more control over their schedules.

The impact of Amazon’s RTO mandate on the company itself is too soon to conclude, but the decision is going to compromise the company’s promise to be “Earth’s best employer”.

Attrition of Non-Monetary Benefits

Amazon’s shift to working traditionally in office settings five times a day shows employers are not considering non-monetary benefits as much in the wake of the pandemic. But Amazon is not the only one who has attempted to trim down such benefits and flexibility.

Although hybrid work mode is still permitted in Dell, it shows enough of the emergence of non-monetary benefits attrition. The statistically-proven advantages of flexible work arrangements are less valued, and gradually replaced by forced hours spent in traditional offices in the eyes of upper management of reputed firms.

A Silver Lining for Smaller Businesses

Talents are much wanted in businesses of all sizes, and the trend of reducing the benefits of flexible work in bigger firms with a lot of bureaucratic layers can pose opportunities for smaller businesses to win the favor of talents from their fierce competitors.

Smaller businesses have a more straightforward hierarchy, hence mitigating the need for effective face-to-face communication, team bonding, and decision-making. They can take advantage of this organizational structure to provide employee-demanded flexibility and attractive benefits as their recruitment strategy. 

Here are some possible inclusions to your benefits package:

1. Flexible work arrangements
2. Professional development and training
3. Health and wellness programs
4. Paid Time Off (PTO)
5. Mental Health Support
6. Childcare Support

Tips for Employers on Designing Employee Benefits Package

Your potential candidates are unique persons and have their own preferences and requirements. You never know what actually matters most to them. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to address these needs

But fortunately, you can utilize flexible benefits to cater to their needs by engaging them in the benefits selection process, to customize their employee benefits package to adapt to their unique needs and requirements according to their lifestyles.

Administering flexible benefits is tricky. There are a lot of calculations to do, and you need a platform that can streamline the process for you. And this is why you can rely on a trusted international broker like Pacific Prime to provide you with an employee benefits solution.

Our Flex Benefit Portal is intuitive and user-friendly, offering an effortless administration experience for you and your HR. What’s more, our global presence also empowers us to coordinate employee benefits offerings across countries, ensuring a seamless delivery no matter where you are and your business size.

Reach out to Pacific Prime for a comprehensive employee benefits review today!

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Eric Chung

Content Creator at Pacific Prime

Eric is an experienced content writer specializing in writing creative copies of marketing materials including social media posts, advertisements, landing pages, and video scripts.

Since joining Pacific Prime, Eric was exposed to a new world of insurance. Having learned about insurance products extensively, he has taken joy and satisfaction in helping individuals and businesses manage risks and protect themselves against financial loss through the power of words.

Although born and raised in Hong Kong, he spent a quarter of his life living and studying in the UK. He believes his multicultural experience is a great asset in understanding the needs and wants of expats and globe-trotters.

Eric’s strengths lie in his strong research, analytical, and communication skills, obtained through his BA in Linguistics from the University of York and MSc in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) from the University of Bristol.

Outside of work, he enjoys some me-time gaming and reading on his own, occasionally going absolutely mental on a night out with friends.

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