At a time when most big tech companies have been pushing to end remote work and get their employees back in the office, a retired vice president of Amazon believes that remote work is a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs. Ethan Evans, who worked for the tech giant for 15 years before retiring as the VP of Prime Gaming, said that forcing people to return to the office was equivalent to asking them to quit. He added that during his tenure at Amazon, he promoted deserving leaders who worked remotely, one of whom relocated to Bengaluru to start a company centre.
"Companies are fighting remote work rather than perfecting it. This is a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs. Currently, big companies are forcing people back to work based on beliefs, not evidence, and in a tough economy basically daring people to quit," he wrote on X. "Assume that in fact effective remote work is a key competitive advantage. If this is true, then the companies that embrace this rather than fight it will come out far ahead in the future. Entrepreneurs who create tools or solve problems with remote work will prosper."
Evans pointed out that no good employee wants close monitoring of their work, but there are also "gleeful scammers" who talk about trying to work three full-time jobs at once. "These people, and the fear of them, undermine remote work," the former Amazon VP said. "A believable slacker detection tool that does not feel invasive would be solid gold. I also think a lot of people, given the choice between 'remote work with some monitoring' and 'commute an hour each way to the office' would accept reasonable monitoring."
Demonstrating how his leadership helped remote workers' careers grow, Evans said that the first two people he promoted to Amazon Director were remote leaders. "To get these leaders across the bar, we had to create situations where they could demonstrate independence, good judgment, leadership, and results far from supervision. It was not easy, but here's how we did it," he said. "Amazon was growing rapidly. One leader relocated to Orange County, California to grow a new office there. The second leader relocated to Bangalore, India, to start a center for our project there."
Amazon orders employees to work from office 5 days a week
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy had made it mandatory for all employees to work from the office five days a week starting January "to invent, collaborate, and be connected enough to each other". For the last 15 months, the tech giant required employees to work from the office at least three days a week, and Jassy said the move resulted in more effective and seamless collaboration among employees.
"We’ve observed that it’s easier for our teammates to learn, model, practice, and strengthen our culture; collaborating, brainstorming, and inventing are simpler and more effective; teaching and learning from one another are more seamless; and, teams tend to be better connected to one another," he said in his memo to Amazon employees. "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."
Jassy added that employees who face emergencies at home, those who need a day or two "to finish coding in a more isolated environment", and those whose Remote Work Exception has been approved through their s-team leader would be allowed to work remotely.
The tech giant employs more than 1.5 million people globally in full-time and part-time roles.
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