In a move that could only happen in Joe Biden’s “upside down” (America), Amazon employees are protesting via Slack the company mandate that they must report to the office for work three days a week starting in May. While many companies allowed remote work during the pandemic, most have brought their employees back to the office, at least on a part time basis. Amazon employees are demanding to be allowed to continue working in their pajamas indefinitely. Check this out.
Thousands of Amazon employees have joined a new Slack channel called “Remote Advocacy” to voice their concerns regarding the company’s newly announced return-to-office policy. The policy mandates that beginning in May employees return to the office three days a week — a decision that has prompted some employees to organize a petition in opposition.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced the new policy on Friday in an internal memo. Business Insider reported that the Slack channel was created within hours of the announcement to “advocate for remote work at Amazon.” Employees also expressed dissatisfaction with the abrupt announcement and a lack of clarity from leadership. Some even suggested that the new policy is unnecessary and is a cost-cutting measure by way of forcing employees to resign.
Shortly after Amazon's CEO announced the company's return-to-office plans last week, thousands of employees began a company Slack channel urging him to roll it back. https://t.co/kXhAQ1pRG6
— Business Journals (@bizjournals) February 22, 2023
Nothing is as an indicative of this generation of workers like an angry protest on a message board. The only thing missing is the “ding” of America On-Line’s messenger service and mom yelling down to the basement to see if you need any snacks. Whether the work can be done from home or not is irrelevant. If your employer asks you to come in, even on a limited basis, you come in or don’t have a job. Not in 2023 America, however. Hey, if Joe Biden can work remotely (vacation) forty percent of his presidency, why do Amazon people have to come in?
CNBC reported on screenshots of comments from an Amazon newsfeed normally available only internally. One said in part that by “arbitrarily forcing return-to-office without providing data to support it and despite clear evidence that it is the wrong decision for employees, Amazon has failed its role as earth’s best employer.”
“I believe this decision will be detrimental to our business,” the comment concluded, “and is antithetical to how we make decisions at Amazon.”
Why should any company be compelled to provide “data” to support why they want their employees to at least show up three days a week? Obviously, these are office people and not the warehouse employees slinging boxes for considerably less money, but the nerve of their demands is stunning. Part of the reason our society is in the shape it is today is because of situations like this. If the company that signs your paycheck wants you to actually put on clean clothes and show your face at the office three days a week, do it or don’t come back ever. Some of Elon Musk’s employees tried similar stunts and were promptly told to get to the office or not bother to even come back. Guess which they chose?
The employee petition, which CNBC said had 5,000 signatures as of Tuesday evening, argues that remote work is more productive, saves money, improves work-life balance, and benefits marginalized people. Amazon employees seek the right to choose where they work, including remote locations.
Anyone arguing that working from home is more productive has clearly worked from home and doesn’t want their scam exposed. However, the most telling part is mentioning so-called “marginalized people”. Who are the marginalized people manning an office for Amazon? Are they hiring lots of lgbtq people and black people? If so, why do they need to work from home more than anyone else does? I have a simple solution for Amazon. Walk the warehouse floors, ask for volunteers to get pay raises and work in the office and fire these lazy ingrates on the Slack channel. It should take all of an afternoon to fill those jobs. We might have to wait a little longer to get our cheap Chinese stuff delivered until they replaced the warehouse people, but we need to stop buying cheap Chinese stuff anyway.
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