Amazon warns workers who don’t return to the office will have a harder time getting promoted

By Catherine Thorbecke, CNN

New York (CNN) — Amazon is once again doubling down on its return-to-office mandate, warning staff that not complying could impact their chances of being promoted.

Employees who don’t regularly work in an office at least three days a week will find that any potential promotion will be subject to an additional layer of leadership approval, the e-commerce giant confirmed to CNN on Friday.

There are a “variety of factors we consider when determining an employee’s readiness for the next level,” Brad Glasser, an Amazon spokesperson, told CNN in a statement.

“Like any company, we expect employees who are being considered for promotion to be in compliance with company guidelines and policies,” Glasser added.

In February, some three years into the dawn of the work-from-home era initially brought on by the pandemic, CEO Andy Jassy said that staffers would be required to return to office at least three days per week starting in May. “Collaborating and inventing is easier and more effective when we’re in person,” Jassy told workers at the time in a company memo.

Like much of the broader business world, Amazon has faced some employee resistance to this mandate. At the end of May, some corporate workers staged a walkout at Amazon’s Seattle headquarters, citing multiple grievances, including the push to get workers back in the office at least three days a week. The walkout in May also occurred months after the company confirmed it was laying off some 27,000 workers over multiple rounds of cuts.

In August, meanwhile, Amazon sent a warning email to some of its office workers that said it believed they were not complying with its return-to-office policies.

The company said it has a remote work exception request policy in place, which is considered on a case-by-case basis.

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