Amazon’s controversial RTO announcement started with a technical hiccup — and ended with more questions
When Amazon corporate employees woke to Monday’s news of a policy change requiring them to be at the office five days a week, some had to get the details from news articles or a press-release-like blog post by CEO Andy Jassy that was published for the public.
The company had sent employees an email before the public post, but the message contained a broken link to the internal company portal, and many employees were thus unable to actually read details within the internal announcement right away.
Amazon spokesperson Brad Glasser characterized the incident as a brief one, and said it was quickly rectified. But for those unhappy about the return-to-work mandate, or anxious about how it might upend their personal lives, the technical hiccup added insult to injury, employees told Fortune.
The announcement quickly ricocheted across the broader business landscape, generating strong opinions within and without the organization. With Amazon being one of the largest private-sector employers in the world, and the second-largest in the U.S., companies debating a full return-to-office mandate could use the tech giant’s decision as cover to do the same. On the other hand, competitors could seize on the mandate to attract talented Amazon workers looking for more flexible work.
