Business | Dig out your trousers

Are bosses right to insist that workers return to the office?

Company mandates are infuriating employees

Commuters crossing London Bridge, United Kingdom.
HerdedPhotograph: Getty Images

“My morale for this job is gone, gonna totally check out,” an Amazon worker recently wrote on Blind, an online forum where employees whinge about their employers. The cause of his discontent was a letter sent last month by Andy Jassy, the tech giant’s boss, that ordered staff back to the office five days a week. The mandate has caused grumbling among Amazon’s office drones, who had previously been required to show up in person only three days a week. At a meeting on October 17th Matt Garman, head of Amazon’s cloud-computing division, told a group of staff that if they did not want to adhere to the policy they could quit.

This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Dig out your trousers”

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