“The dinosaurs of our time”: a famous labor expert addresses these leaders who no longer want to work remotely

Is it a good idea to force a return to 100% in-person work as Amazon’s CEO wants?

In a memo to its employees, Amazon management has suddenly changed course. The flexibility inherited from Covid is really over. From January 2, employees of the group’s administrative services will have to return to work in the office five days a week. In his internal memo, manager Andy Jassy declares that the “benefits of being together in the office are considerable.”

Of course, not everyone thinks the same. Interviewed by The Guardian, Manchester University professor Sir Cary Cooper evokes “the dinosaurs of our time” to describe these employers who force their employees to return to the office five days a week. This professor’s opinion is hard to avoid, as he is famous for having first developed the term presenteeism (to describe employees who are present in the office even if they have health problems).

The return of presenteeism and micromanagement

Sir Cary Cooper sees this forced return as a return to the old “command and control” management style. Such a policy would risk driving away talent, although it has been proven, according to him, that flexible working leads to “greater job satisfaction and better staff retention”.

This return to a form of micromanagement carries risks, according to the professor. “If you micromanage, you will not achieve productivity gains, you will not attract the next generation.”

No improvement in financial performance

Other researchers seem to corroborate the lack of productivity gains. A study by researchers Yuye Dingh and Mark Mai of the University of Pittsburgh points to the lack of significant changes in the financial performance of companies that force their employees to return to the office. On the other hand, a very clear decline in employee satisfaction is identified.

Amazon’s new policy, which does not affect warehouse or delivery staff, will go into effect on January 2. This is to allow employees for whom this new policy “will require some organizational adjustments.” This lack of flexibility for jobs, a large part of which can be done remotely, is seen by some as an incentive to resign.