Amazon increases the focus on office attendance

Amazon is intensifying its expectations for corporate employees to adhere to office hours. Business Insider, referencing sources familiar with the matter, reported that Amazon is monitoring the time corporate employees spend in the office. Certain teams, including those in the retail and cloud computing sectors, received notifications via Slack that they must spend at least two hours in the office for their attendance to be counted. Other teams are required to be present for at least six hours.

Efforts to eliminate "Coffee Badging" at Amazon

This escalation in Amazon's return-to-office (RTO) policy aims to eliminate coffee badging - where employees badge in, grab coffee, and leave — according to Insider. Amazon has faced resistance from employees regarding its RTO policies. In August 2023, the company announced that employees must be in the office three days a week, and it would start tracking and sharing attendance records with those who did not comply. At that time, CEO Andy Jassy stated that employees who could not disagree and commit might find that Amazon is probably not going to work out for them.

Prime Day and strategic timing

This latest development coincides with Amazon's Prime Day event, which is projected 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 industry.