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Amazon Tightens Office Rules: Relocate or Exit Without Severance

Prime Highlights

  • Amazon requires thousands of corporate workers to move to major U.S. cities such as Seattle or quit after 60 days.
  • The action reflects Amazon’s hardline return-to-office policy and anticipates future changes in the labor force by AI.

Key Facts

  • Workers must move in 30 days and cooperate within 60 days or exit without termination pay.
  • The order affects several groups and was executed on an individual, not bulk notification basis.

Key Background

In a dramatic operational change, Amazon has started requiring thousands of its corporate workers to move to central locations such as Seattle, Arlington (Virginia), and Nashville. The move is a huge step up of its return-to-office plan, which was initially implemented in 2023. The new policy now provides impacted employees with only 30 days to sign up to move and 60 days to move—or get fired with no severance pay.

This relocation mandate follows as CEO Andy Jassy pushes for proximity between groups to fuel collaboration and decision-making. Though Amazon once enabled satellite offices in places like New York, Austin, and Los Angeles, the new mandate constrains flexibility, forcing employees toward physical colocation in a few flagship locations. Significantly, the shift is being rolled out through one-on-one meetings and chats internally and not general company-wide emails, reflecting the gravity of the shift.

Employees who are affected by the policy are becoming more and more angry, particularly those who have family obligations or have long-standing connections to the cities they are in. They view the timing as unrealistic and the absence of severance pay as unfair. This tension among employees contributes to a general state of insecurity among Amazon employees, following the tech giant’s previous waves of layoffs, where more than 27,000 corporate jobs were cut between 2022 and 2023.

Also, the relocation is also a part of Amazon’s long-term strategy to leverage generative AI in all areas of its business. CEO Jassy has issued a recent warning that AI would create huge organizational efficiencies that would cut a big corporate workforce by half. Analysts say this relocation mandate can be a savvy attempt at eliminating headcounts in tiny increments—where compulsory resignations for unwillingness to move could eliminate the need for official layoffs.

In general, Amazon’s relocation policy is indicative of a more profound transformation towards the centralization of workplaces and represents wider trends within the tech sector as businesses respond to hybrid working, AI-driven change, and operational optimization.