Amazon’s five-days-in-the-office mandate could be the start of a wider RTO shift

But first, it was fun while it lasted.

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The big story

The return of RTO

Remote employees, be warned: Your days working from home are numbered.

That revelation comes after Amazon announced it wants employees back in the office five days a week starting this January. The tech giant’s in-office requirements will return to “the way we were before the onset of COVID,” according to a memo from CEO Andy Jassy.

We also got our hands on the 22-question document outlining frequently asked questions about the new mandate — along with a leaked FAQ outlining the company’s plans to meet its new goal to have fewer managers

Some Amazon employees quickly criticized the RTO plan in internal Slack messages viewed by Business Insider. One employee wrote on Slack, “This is not ‘going back’ to how it was before. It’s just going backwards.”

Amazon has fought to get its workers back in the office for almost two years. In February 2023, it announced plans to require most office workers to show up in-person three days a week.

The initial mandate didn’t go over well with employees, but Amazon stuck to its guns. It threatened termination against non-compliant workers and cracked down on “coffee badging” employees who stopped briefly in the office just to satisfy the mandate.

Amazon’s announcement could be the nail in hybrid work’s coffin.

Fully remote jobs are rare, but plenty of employers still offer some in-office flexibility. (Wall Street is one exception, as firms have mostly called their employees back to the office full-time.)

But Amazon’s decision will embolden any employer looking to get their people back to their desks for good. It’s a lot easier to make the case for in-office work when one of the biggest companies in the world subscribes to it.

And in the hyper competitive world of Big Tech, other tech giants might follow suit rather than risk getting bad-mouthed by rivals to their clients. How can insert Big Tech company really serve you best when its people are home half the time?

That doesn’t mean it will go over well. Experts cautioned that the cost of calling workers back to their cubicles five days a week could also be high enough in terms of morale and retention that bosses should tread carefully. Employees will also point to the time lost commuting and say their productivity hasn’t dropped when working from home.

Meanwhile, employers will use words like “culture” and “collaborate” as reasons for getting everyone in the office. (Jassy used them 12 and five times, respectively, in his new memo.) And they’re probably not pumped about things like “quiet vacations” or “hushed hybrid” taking place under their noses.

The reality is both sides are right. A survey from McKinsey found that companies with workers who stayed in the same spot — be it the office or home — reported lower revenue growth than those with a hybrid setup.

News brief

Top headlines

3 things in markets

1. Will he sell or will he hold? The lockup period barring former President Donald Trump from selling his Trump Media stock could end as soon as Friday. Trump recently said he’s not selling his stake, which reportedly makes up more than half of his total net worth.
2. The sky’s the limit, according to one bullish analyst. Fundstrat’s Tom Lee, ever the market optimist, believes the much-anticipated Fed rate cut will be a boon for all stocks for a few weeks.
3. Don’t make this $130,000 mistake when rolling over an IRA. Vanguard found that 28% of rolled-over IRAs in 2023 remain uninvested in stocks or bonds. What’s worse: Their owners are often unaware that the funds are effectively collecting dust as piles of cash. Do this to avoid a costly fate.

3 things in tech

1. Elon Musk just can’t stop making terrible tweets. The billionaire’s saga of off-color comments continued this week, as he publicly pondered why there have been no assassination attempts on President Joe Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris. He later deleted the post and claimed it was a joke others had misinterpreted.
2. Apple’s rumored “super cycle” is not so super, after all. Some analysts predicted the iPhone 16, with its flashy new AI capabilities, would kick-start an upgrade cycle lifting the iPhone out of its sales slump. Those expectations appear sorely disappointed: First weekend sales of the iPhone 16 are down 12.7% compared to last year’s model.
3. Meet the 14 power players leading the world’s biggest chipmaker. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC, plays a key role manufacturing chips for companies like Nvidia and Apple. These are the people steering its growth as the AI wars heat up.

3 things in business

1. TikTok is fighting for its life in US court — and it’s on track to lose, a former DOJ official says. Attorneys for the US government and the social media app faced off in court on Monday as TikTok fights a law forcing it to sell or face a nationwide ban. Based on how oral arguments went, things aren’t looking good for the app, a legal expert told BI.
2. Is it imposter syndrome, or are you just bad at your job? Former Microsoft VP of HR Chris Williams can help you tell the difference. Self-doubt can be crippling, but there are three ways to determine if it’s justified.
3. The economy is mid, and it’s making us crazy. We’re not in a recession, but prices are still high, the job market is slowing, and the vibes are seriously off. America’s so-so economy is marked by uncertainty, and that’s making it hard to figure out the right next move.

In other news

What’s happening today

• Federal Open Market Committee meeting commences. Interest rate decisions will be announced tomorrow.
• “Dancing with the Stars” debuts for Season 33. Contestants include Olympic “pommel horse guy” Stephen Nedoroscik and “fake heiress” Anna Delvey.
• A partial lunar eclipse and a “super full moon” are visible across most of North America.
• It’s National Voter Registration Day.

The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. Milan Sehmbi, fellow, in London. Amanda Yen, fellow, in New York.