Amazon CEO: no plans to force employees to return to the office

On the morning of Sept. 8, Beijing time, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said this week that the company does not intend to force employees to return to the office.

"We have no plans to ask employees to return," Mr Jassi said at the Code conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday. "We are not doing so now, but as we learn more, we will adjust accordingly."

After the outbreak in early 2020, Amazon's technical staff were required to work from home. Last October, Mr Jassi said managers of each team would decide how often employees should return to the office. This is in stark contrast to Amazon's earlier goal of returning to an "office-centric culture".

On Wednesday, Mr. Jassi said most Amazon employees have returned to offline offices, but occasionally work from home. Some teams tend to go to the office more often, such as hardware teams and creative departments. At the same time, other teams, such as technical engineers, still largely choose to telecommute.

"I think there are some things that are really difficult to do remotely," he says. Inventions are more difficult to achieve remotely. "

Mr. Jassi has previously said that the outbreak could have a lasting impact on the way employees use the office, which has also affected the way Amazon hires employees. Amazon, for example, is now more open to telecommuting and will hire people anywhere, rather than just focusing on areas where talent is concentrated.

Amazon's position on telecommuting is somewhat different from that of other technology companies. Since April, Google has required most employees to return to offline offices at least three days a week, a move that has sparked controversy among employees. Apple requires some employees to come to the office three days a week starting this month.