Amazon has told its office workers they may no longer work from home except in extenuating circumstances.

It comes as Jonathan Reynolds, the UK’s business secretary, said flexible working contributes to productivity, employee resilience, and staff retention.

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Workers need to be judged on outcomes and “not a culture of presenteeism”, Mr Reynolds told The Times.

What’s Amazon doing?

Amazon has described the policy change as returning to the way it worked before the COVID-19 pandemic – being in the office five days a week except for special circumstances.

A letter from Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy said those situations included when staff or their children were sick, house emergencies, travelling for work or coding “in a more isolated environment”.

Some staff who had been given exceptional permission to work remotely will remain able to do so.

The changes will take effect on 2 January next year as Mr Jassy said the company understands staff have “set up their personal lives in such a way that returning to the office consistently five days per week will require some adjustments”.

Why the change?

Amazon believes being in the office is better for business.

Looking back on five years of hybrid working from home (WFH) and in the office Mr Jassy said “the advantages of being together in the office are significant”.

Learning, working together, generating ideas and strengthening company culture is “simpler and more effective” in the office, while teaching is more seamless and teams are better connected, he said.

“If anything, the last 15 months we’ve been back in the office at least three days a week has strengthened our conviction about the benefits,” he added.

Is WFH here to stay?

The UK government, however, is attempting to facilitate remote work for more people.

It’s already trailed plans to extend the right to request remote and flexible working from the first day of employment.

“There are real economic benefits to be had from the UK adopting this approach,” Mr Reynolds told The Times, adding that remote working could also contribute to levelling up.

“The UK has very significant regional inequality. It could play a significant contribution to tackling that,” he said.

He did concede there are situations when it is “legitimate to need the workforce in the office”, such as when new staff need to learn from those more experienced.

Amazon’s UK union GMB has said the move is “another example of how Amazon has won its reputation as one of the worst employers around”.