'I'm angry, I'm frustrated': Amazon IT worker looks for new jobs due to strict return-to-office policy

An Amazon software development engineer is on the hunt for a new job due to the company's recent mandate requiring employees to return to the office. According to a report by Insider, the company's decision to bring employees back to the office has left the engineer with limited options within the tech giant. 

The engineer, who had previously left Amazon and later returned for a remote role, is now faced with a difficult choice. Amazon's new policy demands that employees either relocate to a hub office, switch teams, or face the risk of being "voluntarily resigned." This has uncertainty among many employees who have embraced remote work.

The identity of the employee wasn't disclosed but Insider claims to have verified the employment details. The Amazon employee explained her/his plight after the release of the new mandate. The employee said, "No one in my local management chain has any power to help with this. It's 100% a top-down mandate. I'm angry, I'm frustrated. I came back specifically to work remotely; to have this taken away is just a huge breach of trust."

Amazon responded to the report of the engineer looking for jobs. It claims that working from the office at least three days a week is the "right long-term approach". Justifying the switch to return-to-office policy, the brand claims that they had consistently explained that the situation would evolve after the pandemic's impact started receding. 

The company claims that a relatively small percentage of its team will be affected by the relocation requirement and highlights the positive feedback it has received from employees.

In response to the report Amazon stated, "As part of this process, we're asking a relatively small percentage of our team to relocate, and we're communicating directly with those affected and providing relocation support. Now that we have a few months under our belts with more people in the office more frequently, there's more energy, connection, and collaboration, and we're hearing that from employees and the businesses that surround our offices."

Amazon is not the only tech company to enforce RTO

Amazon is not the only tech company asking employees to come back to the office or face the consequences. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp has asked employees to come back to the office for at three days a week. Similar to Amazon, employees have been warned of consequences. But the company claims that employees who have been approved for "fully remote work" won't need to come to the office. 

Since late last year, Google also asked its employees to start working from the office at least three days a week. In June this year, the company took a stricter approach tying performance appraisals with office attendance. The company even tried to lure employees by offering on-campus hotel accommodation at a slightly subsidised pricing. 

Many Amazon, Meta, and Google employees have taken to the anonymous workplace app Blind to highlight their grievances with strict RTO policies. However, some employees have even defended the move saying that most employees worked 5 days a week before the Covid pandemic. 

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