Amazon: Amazon employees plan mass walkout to protest against company policies – Times of India

Amazon has asked its employees to be back in offices at least three days per week after the company mandated its return-to-office policy on May 1. The e-commerce giant has also cut jobs of 27,000 employees in two layoff announcements. The new policies implemented by the company have caused an uproar among its staff. Nearly 2,000 Amazon employees were reportedly set to participate in a walk-out at Amazon’s headquarters in Seattle. According to a report by Reuters, these employees were protesting against layoffs and the company’s return-to-work mandate. Amazon has more than 65,000 corporate workers in Seattle.
What Amazon employees said
“The walkout is on! About 1,816 employees have pledged to walk out around the world so far, with 873 in Seattle. Please join 1,816 of our coworkers (and counting) and pledge to walk out,”Amazon Employees for Climate Justice (AECJ) and Amazon’s Remote Advocacy community leaders said.
“Employees need a say in decisions that affect our lives such as the return-to-work mandate, and how our work is being used to accelerate the climate crisis,” they noted.
Several corporate and tech employees weren’t happy with the return-to-work policy and joined an internal Slack channel to protest the mandate.
“This is about Amazon going in the wrong direction, and losing trust. We want what’s best for Amazon. Long-term thinking and employee voices are a significant component of the Day 1 culture that’s turned Amazon into such a successful company, and we’re trying to reignite it,” the community leaders said in a statement.
In this statement, “Day 1” refers to a mantra touted by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. He stepped down as the company’s CEO in 2021 but remains the chairman.
What the company has to say
The report mentions that an Amazon spokesperson has said that the company is “always listening and will continue to do so.”

“We’re happy with how the first month of having more people back in the office has been. There’s more energy, collaboration, and connections happening, and we’ve heard this from lots of employees and the businesses that surround our offices,” the company spokesperson added.
“We understand that it’s going to take time to adjust back to being in the office more and there are a lot of teams at the company working hard to make this transition as smooth as possible for employees,” the spokesperson noted.