Amazon is tightening its expectations for corporate employees regarding office hours.
Reports indicate that Amazon is monitoring the number of hours its corporate staff spends at the office. Various teams, including those in retail and cloud computing, received Slack messages informing them that a minimum of two hours in-office is required for their attendance to be recognized. Other teams have a higher threshold, needing to be in the office for at least six hours.
This move is part of Amazon’s intensified return-to-office (RTO) policy to curb “coffee badging,” where employees check-in, grab a coffee, and leave shortly after.
The policy has faced resistance from employees. In August 2023, Amazon announced a requirement for employees to be in the office three days per week. The company also said it would track attendance and inform those who failed to comply. CEO Andy Jassy mentioned at the time that employees unwilling to adhere to this policy might not find their roles at Amazon sustainable.
This latest initiative coincides with Amazon’s Prime Day event, anticipated to boost sales by up to $14 billion over two days, making it one of the most profitable periods of the year for the company and a significant event for the e-commerce sector.