According to analysis by Inrix, a Kirkland, Wash.-based transportation software and data provider, Amazon’s May 2023 directive — and other back-to-office mandates that followed — had a significant effect on slowing down traffic on major commute routes.

Amazon is requiring employees to be in the office five days a week starting next year, reverting to its pre-pandemic policy.

SEATTLE — Amazon employees will return to the office five days a week starting Jan. 2, 2025, according to a memo from CEO Andy Jassy. Workers have been working in person three days a week since May 1, 2023, and Jassy said the move has "strengthened our conviction about the benefits."

Amazon is demanding that its corporate employees return to the office five days a week, a significant change from its current pandemic-era hybrid policy that requires them to be in the office just three days a week.

Amazon will require employees to work from the office five days a week starting in January, the tech giant announced on Monday.

Start the day smarter. Get all the news you need in your inbox each morning. Amazon notified employees about the policy change on Monday, though it isn't set to take effect until early next year.

Andy Jassy told Amazon's office-based staff they must go in every day starting in January. That move could have repercussions, experts say.

Companies clinging to pre-pandemic office norms are missing the point entirely. Amazon just might be one of them.