Amazon has said it will block employees from promotions if they do not return to the office.
The company issued instructions to managers stating employees who want to climb the career ladder must have a higher office-to-home ratio.
It comes after Amazon issued a policy in February this year mandating employees to return to the office at least three days a week which went into effect in May.
According to messages seen by Business Insider, employees who do not comply with the policy will require approval from a vice-president otherwise they could be barred from promotions.
In an internal announcement, staff were told: “Managers own the promotion process, which means it is their responsibility to support your growth through regular conversations and stretch assignments, and to complete all required inputs for a promotion.
“If your role is expected to work from the office 3+ days a week and you are not in compliance, your manager will be made aware and VP approval will be required.”
Amazon has said it will block employees from promotions if they do not comply to the company’s back-to-office policy— (Getty Images)
Since the return-to-office mandate was given earlier this year, the company has seen plenty of pushback from staff.
Almost 30,000 Amazon staff petitioned the company to drop its office policy in March this year. In May, hundreds of Amazon employees protested the new policy during a lunchtime demonstration at the company’s Seattle headquarters. At the time, an internal Slack channel that advocated for remote work had racked up 33,000 members.
In a Q&A session held in August, Andy Jassy, CEO of Amazon, told staff: “It’s past the time to disagree and commit. If you can’t disagree and commit, it’s probably not going to work out for you at Amazon because we are going back to the office at least three days a week.”
When announcing the updated policy earlier this year, Mr Jassy wrote in a memo to staff that Amazon made its decision after observing what worked during the pandemic and talking to leaders at other companies.
“Promotions are one of the many ways we support employees’ growth and development. Like any company, we expect employees who are being considered for promotion to be in compliance with company guidelines and policies,” an Amazon spokesman said.
