Amazon relaxes return to work plans to allow more flexible working

Tech giant will let corporate employees work outside of the office two days a week

Amazon will allow its corporate employees to work from home two days a week in a significant change to its previous return to work guidance.

The vendor announced in March that its goal was to "return to an office-centric culture" and expected "most" employees to return to the office later this year.

But the company's U-turn will also allow corporate employees "for whom working away from the office is an effective option" to work up to four weeks per year fully remote, with employees also able to apply for an extension to work less than three days per week in the office.

"Like all companies and organisations around the world, we're managing every stage of this pandemic for the first time, learning and evolving as we go," Amazon said in a statement.

"Our thinking is predicated on what we believe will be most beneficial for customers, while also trying to give employees more flexibility in their work environment and lives.

"We recognise this is an unprecedented time. We're all figuring out how work will keep evolving and what will be best for customers, our teams, and individual employees."

Google also recently relaxed its work from home policy, with CEO Sundar Pichai stating that he expects 20 per cent of its employees to work fully from home, along with the option to work from a location other than their assigned office for four weeks per year.

Other tech giants have followed a similar flexible approach, with Apple expecting workers to be in the office three days a week from September onwards.