RTO
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Blog
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy claims controversial RTO mandate is not a “backdoor layoff” strategy – but it’s a tactic that some execs admit to
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has pushed back on claims that the company’s controversial return to office (RTO) mandate was a thinly veiled attempt to encourage layoffs. Speaking at an all-hands meeting on 5 November, Jassy denied accusations that his recently announced RTO strategy was a “backdoor layoff”, insisting the move was motivated by improving the organization’s culture. “A number of…
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Considering an RTO policy? Think again. Firms with remote working options record better financial performance
Firms with strong flexible work options have improved fortunes in the stock market, according to researchers at the University of Melbourne. The university’s assistant professor of finance, Gabriele Lattanzio, found a correlation between companies ranked highly for flexible work opportunities and companies with higher share prices. “This study documents for the first time that firms’ reliance on alternative work arrangements…
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“There are other companies around”: AWS CEO Matt Garman says employees pushing back on RTO mandates should quit
Don’t want to return to the office? Amazon has a simple answer for employees refusing RTO mandates: quit. Matt Garman, chief executive of the tech giant’s cloud division, Amazon Web Services (AWS), told staff at a meeting that they should look elsewhere for work if they didn’t think they could work in the office anymore. Amazon is one of a…
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In an age of RTO hardliners, Spotify’s stance on remote work is a breath of fresh air
Spotify insisting that its staff “aren’t children” and can be trusted to remain productive working from home is a breath of fresh air and precisely the messaging workers want to hear on the topic of remote work. In response to a question regarding the streaming giant’s working policies, chief human resources officer Katarina Berg recently told Raconteur that “you can’t…
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Business execs just said the quiet part out loud on RTO mandates: A quarter admit forcing staff back into the office was meant to make them quit — but this ‘quiet firing’ practice could easily backfire
Companies give a lot of reasons for employees to come back to the office — innovation, communication, productivity — but as many as a quarter are also quietly hoping that staff quit. That’s according to research from BambooHR, which surveyed companies on the return to office (RTO) trend, finding that 18% of HR professionals and 25% of VP and c-suite…
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Amazon workers aren’t happy with the company’s controversial RTO scheme – and they’re making their voices heard
Amazon staff are up in arms over a controversial return to office (RTO) mandate imposed by the company earlier this month. The new working arrangements, unveiled by CEO Andy Jassy in mid-September, will require all staff to return to the office five days per week from January 2025, and will see hotdesking scrapped. Amazon has employed a hybrid work policy…
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If I’d spent billions on fancy office spaces, I’d probably want staff working from them too – so let’s cut the tantrums over the ‘benefits’ of a full RTO
Remote work, huh? It’s the argument that just won’t go away. A never-ending cacophony of big tech execs throwing tantrums over staff having the flexibility to work from anywhere and on their terms. The horror. Water cooler small talk is critical for ‘collaboration’, they’d have you believe, and making the daily slog into work on public transport or by sitting…
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Amazon’s RTO mandate likely to boomerang, other companies ‘should not follow suit’ – Computerworld
Amazon’s planned move to five days a week flies in the face of a positive employee experience, according to Gownder. “Consistently, studies show that hybrid [work] drives higher levels of employee productivity,” Gownder said. “Offices have their own distractions, plus onerous commutes. Employees do best at individual level work when they can customize their environments and schedules. Employee experience, Gownder…
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Amazon demands staff return to the office five days per week – even as employees argue against current RTO measures
Amazon is demanding staff return to working in the office for five days a week beginning next year – though not all employees are happy about the shift away from working from home. Andy Jassy, CEO at Amazon, broke the news via a letter to staff that was shared on the company’s website, saying “we’ve decided that we’re going to…
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