Amazon and Disney employees are protesting returning to the office

As the pandemic subsides, going back to the office isn’t so fun for some who have adapted to working from home.

Last week, more than 2,3000 Disney employees filed a petition against CEO Bob Iger’s request that employees return to the office for a Monday-Thursday work week starting March 1. Today, CNBC reports that a similar uprising is underway at Amazon, where several employees have argued against CEO Andy Jassy’s request that employees be released from the 1. On Friday, a Slack channel was set up for Amazon- employees to voice their concerns and which as of today is numbered north of 14,000.

When Deadline contacted an Amazon representative about the situation, they referred us to Jassy’s memo to staff on Friday.

At the time, Jassy said: “It is not easy to bring many thousands of employees back to our offices around the world, so we will give the teams that have to do this work time to develop a plan. We know it won’t be perfect at first, but the office experience will gradually improve over the coming months (and years) as our property and interior teams work out the kinks and ultimately evolve as we choose to furnish our offices to accommodate the new fit. ways of working we want. I know people will have questions about how this change will be implemented. We will finalize these details in the coming weeks, so stay tuned to Inside Amazon for these updates.

“We, the undersigned, call on Amazon to protect its role and status as a global retail and technology leader by immediately ending the RTO policy and issuing a new policy that allows employees to remotely or to work more flexibly, if you will, if her team and position allow it,” reads a draft of the petition, reported by Business Insider.

The petition included statistics showing how telecommuting improves productivity, lowers costs and attracts top talent. Of concern was what a return to personhood would mean for these parents, minorities, caregivers and people with disabilities.

Disney and Amazon aren’t the only big employers trying to get back to normal. The country’s biggest such body, the federal government, will phase out the Covid emergency, meaning the extraordinary powers it granted, such as requiring employers to comply with Covid measures and forcing insurers to carry out Covid testing to cover

Jassy and Iger share similar views on going back to the office. For the former, his note points out how collaboration “makes it easier to learn, model, practice and strengthen our culture” and “collaboration and invention are easier and more effective when we are in person.”

In his January 9 memo, Iger emphasized: “In a creative organization like ours, nothing can replace the ability to connect, observe and create by being physically with colleagues, nor the opportunity to empower yourself by learning from leaders and mentors to develop professionally. . I believe that more face-to-face collaboration benefits the creativity, culture and careers of our people.”

The Washington Post first reported that petitions to return to office at Disney came from departments including ABC, 20th Century Studios, Marvel Studios, Hulu, Pixar and FX. Those who prefer to work remotely at the Mouse House have argued that productivity will be negatively affected, as will efficiency and output. They also believed that returning to staff would lead to staff shortages and redundancies.

Amazon employees are upset because Jassy’s previous comments about a hybrid workplace promised that one size does not fit all. According to reports, the affected Amazon employees are those hired to work outside of the mall/streamer’s main hubs in Seattle, New York and Northern California.

“Of course, just like before the pandemic, there will be certain roles (eg some of our sales staff, customer service, etc.) and exceptions to these expectations, but they will be a small minority,” Jassy said.

Deadline reached Disney, which declined to comment on the return-to-work petition.