Amazon (AMZN) employees are under an increasing amount of pressure as the company ramps up its efforts to “operate like the world’s largest startup.”
In January this year, Amazon employees were ordered to return to working in the office five days a week, after being allowed to work in-office only three days a week.
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Amazon CEO Andy Jassy then said during an internal company meeting in March that he aims to remove bureaucracy from the company as the best leaders “get the most done with the least amount of resources required to do the job.”
Related: Amazon CEO gives hard-nosed message to employees
In his annual letter to shareholders, which was unveiled the following month, Jassy doubled down on this idea and emphasized that he wants Amazon employees to move at a faster pace as it operates in “fiercely competitive market segments.”
“It’s a false binary to argue that you can move fast or deliver high standards,” said Jassy in the letter. “If you want to be fast, you can be fast, and still be high quality. We’ve done it for many years (though we can still be faster).”
Earlier this week, he even sent a memo to employees warning them that artificial intelligence, which Amazon is heavily investing in, may soon replace their jobs.
“As we roll out more Generative AI and agents, it should change the way our work is done,” said Jassy. “We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs. It’s hard to know exactly where this nets out over time, but in the next few years, we expect that this will reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company.”
Amazon sends another harsh message to employees
As Amazon gradually plans to revamp its work culture, it is reportedly ordering some of its corporate employees to relocate to cities such as Seattle; Arlington, Virginia; and Washington, D.C., to live closer to their managers and teams, according to a new report from Bloomberg.
The online retail giant has informed employees about this relocation mandate in one-on-one and town hall meetings. The policy will reportedly impact thousands of workers.
Related: IBM gives employees a rude awakening with harsh new policy
One Amazon employee told Bloomberg that their manager warned their team that they had 30 days to make a decision on relocating. When they settle on a decision, they will then have 60 days to either resign or start their relocation process.
Employees who decide not to relocate will be given no severance pay.
In a statement to Bloomberg, an Amazon spokesperson said, “We hear from the majority of our teammates that they love the energy from being located together, and whenever someone chooses to or is asked to relocate, we work with them to offer support based on their individual circumstances.”
Amazon is following in the footsteps of its competitors
The move from Amazon comes shortly after its tech competitor, IBM, also informed some of its employees in April that they will be expected to work from an office location three days a week, and those who live more than 50 miles from their assigned office will be given relocation benefits to move.
Last year in January, Apple made a similar move by ordering its artificial intelligence team to move from San Diego to Austin, Texas, giving them until the end of February to make a decision on relocating.
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If they chose not to relocate, Apple warned them that their jobs would be terminated; however, they were given the option to apply for other jobs within the company and received four weeks of severance, with an additional week for each year they worked, as well as six months of health insurance.
As more large companies demand employees to relocate to nearby offices, this effort could backfire, as most employees rejected relocation opportunities from their employers in 2024.
According to a recent survey from moving company Atlas Van Lines, 58% of companies said that they had an employee turn down an opportunity to relocate last year.
The top three reasons employees rejected a move were: family issues/obligations, concerns about housing or mortgage at the new location, and concerns about selling or leaving their original home.
Related: Google sends a harsh message to employees after layoffs
