[hotpotamus]

I wonder what data Amazon has on the subject these days. I've long been skeptical of peoples' sense that they are more productive while working from home. I'm sure they are indeed able to focus more on tasks, but working on a team also requires a lot of coordination, so it seems possible that although people are more productive individually, their team output still suffers. I also suspect that turnover exacerbates issues; a well-tenured team probably can work remotely more effectively once they've gotten to know each other.

[scrum-treats]

The data is essentially this: Amazon owns a bunch of real estate and has lots of partnerships and tax breaks associated with congregating lots of people in certain locations. If they continue to allow work from home, then Amazon is on the hook for the growingly negative economic impact of their business decisions.

From an employee perspective, it's hit and miss. When your team is spread out across the world, there's no way to RTO. This is to say, "voluntary leave" is a euphemism for "quiet firing."