Why Amazon’s Back to Work Order Is a Warning for the Future of Work

Last week, CEO Andy Jassy called all Amazon employees back to work five days a week to preserve company culture and return to a pre-COVID reality. Recalling the pre-pandemic era, Jassy reminded the world that corporations have officially regained the upper hand – hiring, firing and changing the rules at will. And Amazon has certainly used that power, laying off more than 27,000 of its employees since 2022 and now removing flexibility for the rest.

Amazon’s decision is not just another episode of the “return to work” soap opera. It is truly the canary in the coal mine that poses a dangerous problem. The relationship between employers and employees is now based on power rather than mutual respect and cooperation. And that leads to a serious loss of trust that drives engagement, loyalty, belonging and performance.

And leaders know this all too well. PWC’s 2024 Trust Survey found that 93% of executives say building and maintaining trust is critical to the bottom line. Yet only 23% of employees trust their company leaders to do the right thing. And 40% of employees don’t feel like their managers trust them. No wonder so many companies use surveillance devices to measure keystrokes, police presence, and test compliance.

This is a far cry from the “new normal” promised by the pandemic – a blank sheet of paper from which to design and build the successful workplace of the future. We envisioned a place where productivity and flexibility go hand in hand, and where employees can learn together, develop and collaborate in innovative ways. But that vision has stalled – with the force of whiplash. Through the lens of Amazon’s actions, the workplace is more like Game of Thrones: a battle for control and conquest, rather than creating a community of collaborative colleagues. Here are three ways we will all lose if the fight continues.

Work becomes a transaction

To state the obvious: there has been a lot of upheaval in the last few years. First, the demand for talent in a tight labor market allowed employees to make significant progress in achieving work-life balance. Employers offered flexible and hybrid work options, wellness benefits and increasing wages. As the economy became uncertain, employers regained control and carried out an extraordinary number of layoffs, destabilizing workers and depriving them of their rights. Flexible working had become a commonplace and even expected feature of the modern workplace until many companies like Amazon arbitrarily moved employees back to offices.

This power struggle takes its toll on both employees and the organization – relationships are replaced by transactions. Employees are not widgets. Rapidly expanding technologies, differing generational norms and a fiercely competitive landscape are bringing profound changes to the workplace and requiring individuals to work together more than ever. The transactional tenor of many current workplace decisions is forcing people to protect themselves and act in competition rather than collaboration. Employees who trust their employer to have their back are 260% more motivated at work. When people feel valued, have a strong shared purpose, and have invested in the skills to work better together, they are more innovative and collaborative. Turning the workplace into a zero-sum game undermines workers, erodes culture and hurts productivity.

The social contract in the workplace is dying

The more transactional work becomes, the more the underlying social contract between colleagues becomes unstable. Many people assume that the social contract is an agreement between employer and employee to treat each other with respect and consideration. This is not a social contract, but a code of conduct. The partnership agreement is the structure that holds a company together. It is based on the understanding of all colleagues, from the CEO to the front line, that collective success is driven by individual commitment – ​​to the mission and, more importantly, to each other. Colleagues in an organization with a healthy social contract ask themselves, “What do we owe each other?”

What does this look like in real time? A production manager at a company with a young apprenticeship program for urban youth who co-signs bank accounts so they can develop productive and financially healthy habits. Another skipped a family dinner to help an apprentice with his algebra homework, because success at work begins with confidence and self-efficacy in life. Or a software engineer who spends hours of her week mentoring younger women to advance in their careers and doing her own work late at night. An effective social contract requires a strong sense of agency, where each person has the power and autonomy to represent the organization and its values ​​from a place of authenticity and belonging. Layoffs and work orders deprive employees at all levels of this freedom of choice. When they stop caring, they give up. And the social contract dies – productivity and profits go to the grave.

Workplace culture becomes a weapon

In his letter, Amazon CEO Jassy emphasizes culture and describes it as a crucial success factor for the company. He justifies his decision by “strengthening” a personal culture in which “collaboration, brainstorming and invention are easier and more effective; Teaching and learning from each other is more seamless; and teams tend to be better connected to one another.” What exactly does he mean by culture? Does it match what his employees expect from the culture?

Culture now generally means “how I like to work”. For example, there is growing evidence that hybrid workplaces produce the greatest productivity and creativity. But for older executives, the nostalgic appeal of the water cooler remains intact. Many of Jassy’s frustrated employees (particularly the big water bottle carrier generation who have no memory of the community fountain) may describe Amazon’s culture as “toxic,” a common refrain heard when workers are at odds with their employers. Remember the silent quitting? Culture is not a weapon thrown around by the person with the biggest muscles. Admittedly elusive, culture encompasses the norms and practices that govern the way we work together. It’s about how, not where. It’s about productivity and engagement and a healthy social contract. And while it’s difficult, it’s not impossible to take a more evidence-based approach (both qualitative and quantitative) to understand when it’s best. Until we agree on what a healthy culture looks like, it is just another pawn in the workplace power struggle.

The Amazon decision clearly shows that the discussion about our workplace is not yet over. And while Amazon may have broken out of the tech pack, we’ll now see other companies (tech and beyond) follow suit with RTO orders. The only thing we know for sure is that the pendulum continues to swing. When the economy gets tough, companies take over. In times of boom, employees have to fight back. And trust suffers every time. Sustainable success requires more than just survival of the fittest. It is time to end the fighting and make a real commitment to work together. The future of work depends on putting down the sword and embracing the social contract.