Amazon CEO Andy Jassy recently announced an in-office work policy, requiring all employees to work in the office 5 days a week starting January 2nd, 2025. In contrast to 71% of U.S. companies offering hybrid work flexibility, Amazon’s decision is speculated to be a cost-savings effort through natural attrition, avoiding layoff costs through employees choosing to quit on their own. Regardless of the reason, here’s 3 things to anticipate if transitioning from a remote to an in-person work environment.
Difficulty Recruiting Top Talent
No remote work capabilities make the talent pool for future openings geographically dependent. Skills and location do not always align. According to a January 2024 study by the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM), 77% of 2,366 HR professionals reported difficulty recruiting for full-time positions, citing skills gap as a key driver. Inflexible workplace policies will only augment these issues, making the hiring process even more complex.
The average remote worker saves $6,000 annually in transit, childcare, and related in-office working costs, according to research by FlexJobs, and 29% of hybrid and remote workers expect a pay increase if no longer able to work remotely. Companies should anticipate higher salary negotiations, relocation bonuses, and raise requests for in-office versus remote jobs.
Companies eliminating remote work should expect a downshift in both quantity and quality of applicants. Top talent know their value and intentionally select environments that allow them to flourish. They seek opportunities with ongoing communication, trust, and autonomy. High performers will not work for companies that gauge success solely by visual proximity.
Decrease In Productivity
With any organizational change, there is an initial dip in performance (Figure 1). Many businesses never exit the resistance phase of a change, with 70% of organizational changes failing. Communicating the data and rationale for a change is an essential step for in implementing a change successfully, yet most organizations fail to take this action and never regain productivity.
Andy Jassy stated in his letter to Amazon employees that the reason driving a return to the office full-time is “being better set up” to be connected with employees and the culture. He does not identify how remote work has failed in this regard nor provide evidence why the no remote policy would be the best solution for this. Employees that are told a decision that they don’t agree with or aren’t given acceptable “why” will be disincentivized to perform. When Amazon issued a three-day office mandate earlier this year, over 30,000 employees signed a petition asking for it to be reversed along with letters requesting the data backing up the return to office decision.
Studies continue to show how remote employees are more productive, even working when they are sick. Companies mandating a return to office should expect an increase of sick days, for both mental health and physical health needs. The process for taking time off to take care of personal matters, such as daycare pickups and appointments, will create bottlenecks and disruptions in the workday. Even time spent moving from one conference room to another versus easily hanging up a Zoom meeting to jump into another will impact the workflow and productivity of individuals.
Weakened Trust In Leadership
With only 23% of employees trusting their leaders, it is imperative that companies make large-scale decisions that build trust, not hinder it. Requiring employees leave their home office setups to enter into a shared office space sends a clear message – leadership does not trust you unless we see you. Individuals will loose trust in their company leadership decision-making abilities if organizational changes negatively impact the majority of the workforce. Loss of trust in leadership will soon lead to loss of interest in working for a company, either through leaving or ‘quiet quitting.’
High performers question status-quo and bring new ideas to the table. That type of person is not interested in a distrustful and rigid workplace. Businesses need to thoroughly self-assess and listen to their employees prior to making any organizational changes. A culture issue is not solved by making people vacate their home desk for an assigned cubicle seat.