Amazon is postponing its mandatory five-day return-to-office policy for thousands of corporate employees due to insufficient workspace, with some delays stretching into May 2025 across multiple US cities.
The e-commerce giant has notified staff in at least seven cities – including Austin, Dallas, Phoenix, Atlanta, Nashville, Houston, and New York – that they cannot accommodate full-time office returns starting January 2 as originally planned, according to Bloomberg News.
The delay affects an undisclosed portion of Amazon’s 350,000 corporate employees worldwide. In Manhattan’s Midtown Lord & Taylor building, some employees might not have designated workspace until May, while Dallas-based staff were told to expect delays until March or April.
The situation appears to contradict Amazon’s initial return-to-office guidance. “For the vast majority of employees, assigned workspaces will be available by January 2, 2025,” the internal guidance stated. “If your assigned workspace isn’t ready by January 2, we still expect everyone to begin fully working from the office by that date.”
Employees report struggles with the current three-day hybrid model, citing issues with shared desks, overcrowded corporate canteens, and scarce conference rooms for confidential calls or team meetings. “The company has added a feature to its room reservation tool that requires workers to attest they actually plan to use the space, an apparent effort to crack down on squatters looking for a quiet place to work,” one employee noted.
The space crunch comes three months after CEO Andy Jassy announced the controversial mandate requiring employees to work from office five days per week. The policy has faced resistance from employees who say they’ve proved their effectiveness while working remotely and prefer flexible arrangements common among tech industry peers.
To address immediate space needs, Amazon has leased temporary offices from WeWork in New York and Silicon Valley. The company had previously paused several office development projects during the pandemic, including developments in Bellevue, Nashville, and Arlington, Virginia.
An Amazon spokesperson said the delays primarily result from building reconfigurations needed to accommodate full-time office workers, rather than a shortage of available office space. The company maintains that the “vast majority” of employees will have desk space by January 2, and is communicating directly with affected employees about specific return dates in their locations.
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