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In big news today, Amazon wants to stop its employees from avoiding the obligation to work in the office by track hours spent in the office.
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The big story
Pressing the clock
In Amazon, coffee is for closing people who spend at least 2 hours in the office.
The tech giant has launched a new strategy in its ongoing fight to get employees to come to the office: tracking the hours individuals spend there.
Eugene Kim of Business Insider has a report on Amazon monitors the hours its corporate employees spend in the office. While that may sound annoying — one Amazon employee likened it to being treated like a high school student — it’s not without reason.
Amazon is trying to crack down on “coffee badge,” or coming into the office just to fulfill office obligations without actually working there. Currently, most Amazon corporate staff must be in the office at least three times a week.
Amazon and its employees have been engaged in an ongoing dispute over the mandate to return to work in the office, which was first announced early last year. There internal petitionIndonesian: blocked promotionAnd forced relocation because both parties have stuck to their guns.
From Amazon’s perspective, business is better when employees are in the office. A spokesperson told Eugene that returning to the office means “more energy, connection and collaboration.”
For Amazon employees, the RTO mandate is shrouded in mystery and confusion. And for some, the number of days they’re in the office doesn’t feel like a metric worth judging by.
Whatever the case, don’t expect the dispute to end anytime soon. At least one Amazon employee feels they’ve found a solution by heading to their local Whole Foods, an Amazon subsidiary.
Amazon’s RTO battle isn’t the only one taking place in corporate America.
Computer giant Dell is at odds with its employees over its strict RTO mandate, which exclude remote workers completely from promotions.
Workers voice their anger in Dell’s annual employee engagement survey. A key measure of the likelihood that employees will recommend Dell as a great place to work. down double digits from last yearwrites Polly Thompson of BI.
However, getting angry is the only thing an employee who opposes the RTO mandate can do. white collar job market brutal lately. And you can forget about it find a fully remote job.
Maybe that’s why employees who are still working from home are willing to go beyond the limits of what’s possible.
For some people that means secretly take a vacation while they are still working. For others, it is outsource all your work for shadow replacement.
3 things in the market
- A Goldman partner details his climb to the top. Elizabeth Reed is a partner and leads the team that helps price IPOs at Goldman Sachs. In a Q&A, she reflects on the beginning of his 17-year career at the bank, where he started as an intern.
- Take a look at JD Vance’s investment portfolio. Former President Donald Trump’s vice presidential nominee is pro-bitcoin and owns shares in more than 120 private companies. Walmart, gold and Treasury bonds are some of its largest public investments.
- Small market cap, big profits. Fundstrat’s Tom Lee is optimistic about potential for smaller stocks as Fed considers easing interest ratesThe Russell 2000 index, which tracks small-cap stocks, could surge 40% as the S&P 500 starts to slow, he said.
3 things in technology
- A prominent Utah VC is accused of routinely making female employees feel uncomfortable. Half a dozen women told BI they faced unwanted touch from Greg Warnocka major figure in the mountain state’s tech scene, while working at the venture capital firm he founded. In June, Warnock told employees he was stepping down from day-to-day management of the company.
- Netflix and Amazon enter a new round of streaming wars. Streamers are vying for brand partnerships with advertisers, which include everything from product placement to co-marketing campaigns. While brands want to be featured in streaming content, not everyone is happy about how Netflix and Amazon are courting them.
- Musk left California and moved two more businesses to Texas. Elon Musk announced that he is officially moving SpaceX and X headquarters to Texasciting California laws that “attack families and businesses.” He moved Tesla to the Lone Star State in 2021.
3 things in business
- Who gets the company share in a divorce? Stephen Pasterino and Rachel Katzman personal breakup sparks legal battleBut despite a tale involving a billionaire father-in-law, a 911 call, and a defamation lawsuit, the company that now counts Jennifer Aniston as an advisor and owner has soared to new heights.
- The homeowners in your friendly neighborhood are about to become a lot more sinister. Family landlords are often seen as the opposite of the big private equity firms that control real estate. But these small individual landlords are increasingly emulating the strategies of big corporations to drive up rents and profits, a bad omen for tenants.
- Pork roast prize for the best AI launch. Private equity firm THL uses friendly competitions and prizes to provide incentives to portfolio companies to apply generative AI. And this technology has helped the company’s engineers increase productivity by up to 30%.
In other news
What is happening today
- The Fed’s Beige Book is launched.
- The mayor of Paris took a dip in the Seine River, where Olympic swimmers are still expected to compete. Paris has invested more than $1 billion to clean up the river, but continuous rain pollutes it.
- United Airlines, Johnson & Johnson, and other companies is reporting.
Insider Today Team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. Annie Smith, associate producer, in London. Amanda Yen, associate, in New York.
