Return-to-office mandates are more than "backdoor layoffs"

Today, we’re talking about work. Specifically, where we work, how our expectations of working remotely were radically changed by the pandemic, and how those expectations feel like they’re on the verge of changing yet again. For many people, the pendulum has swung wildly between working fully remote and now a push to return to the office from their bosses, and there are a lot of theories about what might really be motivating big companies to try and bring everyone back.

To explain it, I caught up with two experts on the subject: Stephan Meier, a professor of business strategy at Columbia Business School, and Jessica Kriegel, the chief strategy officer at workplace culture consultancy Culture Partners. We dive into what’s been happening to the nature of work today, and whether Amazon, which just announced a major return to the office five days a week, is part of a bigger trend. 

Links:

• Amazon is making its employees come back to the office five days a week | The Verge
• Amazon CEO denies 5-day office mandate is a ‘backdoor layoff’ | CNBC
• Bob Iger tells Disney employees they must return to the office four days a week | CNBC
• A quarter of bosses admit return-to-office mandates meant to make staff quit | Fortune
• More Americans now prefer hybrid over fully remote work, survey finds | Axios
• Google tells staff: stay productive and we’ll stay flexible | BI
• The list of major companies requiring employees to return to the office | BI
• Thinking Inside the Box: Why Virtual Meetings Generate Fewer Ideas | Columbia
• Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn wants you addicted to learning | Decoder
• Sundar Pichai on managing Google through the pandemic | Vergecast

Credits: 

Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Our producers are Kate Cox and Nick Statt. Our editor is Callie Wright. Our supervising producer is Liam James.

The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.

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