Amazon and TAB end work-from-home policy, major blow to thousands of employees

More and more large companies have sent their employees back to the office, in another sign that the work-from-home (WFH) trend is coming to an end during the Covid era.

Tech giant Amazon and Australian gaming company Tabcorp are the latest companies to require employees to come to the office five days a week.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy sent a message to employees urging the company’s staff to return to the office permanently by January 2025.

Meanwhile, Tabcorp sent an email to its employees informing them that the “default setting” was for office workers to return to the workplace five days a week.

“This means that all team members who work in the office must work in the office, with their team, every day of the working week,” Tabcorp’s internal memo reads.

In his message to staff, Mr Jassy said Amazon’s leadership had “decided that we will return to working in the office as we did prior to the COVID outbreak”.

“We understand that some teammates have organized their personal lives in such a way that they must adjust to consistently going into the office five days a week,” Mr. Jassy wrote.

“To ensure a smooth transition, we will implement this new expectation starting January 2, 2025.”

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy sent a letter to employees urging the company’s workforce to return to the office permanently by January 2025

Both organizations stressed that there would still be some flexibility for employees to work days outside the office.

“Before the pandemic, not everyone was in the office five days a week, every week,” Jassy wrote.

Tabcorp also stressed that it has ‘long been a flexible workplace and that will not change’.

‘Sometimes you may need to work flexibly, such as starting and stopping at different times, or working remotely for a day. Discuss and coordinate these requirements with your manager.’

Tabcorp previously offered a hybrid arrangement for employees that required them to stay in the office for three days.

The move by Amazon and Tabcorp follows the New South Wales government’s recent executive order requiring civil servants to return to the office full-time.

Prime Minister Chris Minns’ announcement immediately sparked outrage from public sector workers and unions, many of whom felt that the work-from-home culture was now ’embedded’ in the public sector.

Tabcorp sent an email to employees stating that the ‘default position’ was that office workers would return to the workplace five days a week

The Commonwealth Bank also faced internal opposition when it ordered its employees to return to the office at least 50 percent of the time from July 2023. The financial sector union said some staff would seek work elsewhere as a result of the change.

“Hundreds of CBA members have contacted the union and complained that the bank is destroying working agreements that have worked well for the bank and its employees,” Julia Angrisano, national secretary of FSU, said at the time.

‘Our members have expressed serious concerns about the significant impact this change would have on them, including on their work-life balance, their mental health and wellbeing, and their caring responsibilities.’

Tabcorp has been asked for comment.

Office space rental agents and retailers in major cities are facing a drop in sales as favourable work-from-home policies continued after forced lockdowns during the Covid period.

In Melbourne, mayoral candidate Arron Wood recently announced that if he is successful in the October election, he will end working from home and force 1,700 Melbourne city councillors to return to their offices to help revitalise the city.

The drastic measure is part of his broader plan to ‘reinvigorate Melbourne’s economy by ensuring more people get to the city safely and on time’.

A recent survey of 2,000 office sector professionals in Australia, conducted by recruitment expert Robert Walters, found that 40 percent of the workforce would look for a new job if their employer required them to be in the office five days a week.

Another 33 percent said they would do so if their work-from-home days were shorter.

The research shows that hybrid working and company culture are the most important decisive factors when accepting a new job.

Forty-one percent of respondents said commute time is the biggest barrier to returning to the office, while another 45 percent said work-life balance is the most important factor when considering a new role.

A recent survey of 2,000 office-based professionals across Australia found that 40% of the working population would look for a new job if their employer required them to increase their office presence to 5 days a week.