Photo credit: Christian Wiediger/Unsplash

There is a new order from Amazon — but this one is for employees, not customers awaiting their latest deliveries. 

The technology, e-commerce and digital streaming company has issued a memo to workers that states it is ending its hybrid work policy and staff must now work from the office five days a week rather than at home.

Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy said in the memo that it will come into force in January 2025, allowing staff time to adjust. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, Amazon employees had been permitted to work from home two days a week.

"We’ve decided that we’re going to return to being in the office the way we were before the onset of Covid,"Jassy said, so staff will be "better set up to invent, collaborate, and be connected enough to each other."

Amazon employs more than 1.5 million people globally and has its headquarters in Seattle, where employees staged a demonstration last year as the company reined in full-time remote work permissions that were introduced during the pandemic.

Amazon subsequently fired the organizer of the protest, prompting claims of unfair retaliation, a dispute that has been taken up with labor officials.

Jassy — who replaced founder Jeff Bezos as CEO in 2021 and is known to not be a fan of remote work — said in the memo he was concerned the company's corporate culture was being lost due to flexible work and bureaucratic layers.

Amazon staff will still be permitted to work from home in unseen circumstances, such as a family emergency, but will need an exemption. 

"Our expectation is that people will be in the office outside of extenuating circumstances," Jassy added.

The one question remains: who will receive their Amazon deliveries now workers are back at their desks?