Amazon’s Return to Office Isn’t About Productivity скачать в хорошем качестве

Amazon’s Return to Office Isn’t About Productivity

Full episode on youtube:    • Amazon fires middle management? Did AI kil...   Full episode on spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0UhK... Everyone says they want innovation. Almost everyone adds process. And eventually, middle management shows up anyway. In this episode, we break down Andy Jassy’s recent comments on remote work, return-to-office (RTO) mandates, and Amazon’s stated goal to “operate like the world’s largest startup.” On the surface, the message sounds familiar: collaboration, invention, company culture, speed, and ownership. But only a few paragraphs in, it snaps back to the reality of big tech: management layers, approval chains, org charts, internal jargon, and “remote work exceptions.” We dig into what’s actually driving the return to office movement across major tech companies: Is remote work really bad for productivity, collaboration, and innovation? Or is RTO about control, visibility, incentives, power, and reshaping corporate culture? This conversation covers: Amazon’s return to office memo and Andy Jassy’s Bloomberg interview Amazon leadership strategy and executive decision-making Remote work vs in-office work for software engineers Productivity, collaboration, and innovation in distributed teams The meaning and impact of “remote work exceptions” Startup culture vs enterprise culture at scale Middle management growth in large tech companies Organizational hierarchy, management ratios, and bureaucracy Why Reddit suddenly started defending middle managers We compare real-world company structures across the tech industry: Amazon, Netflix, Valve, banks, startups, and remote-first companies — looking at how engineering organizations change as companies scale from hundreds to tens of thousands of employees. We also talk about: Software engineers building tools for themselves instead of customers How incentives drift away from user value in large organizations Why decision-making slows down as companies grow Flattened org charts, IC ownership, and why they rarely last Corporate real estate conspiracies behind RTO — and why they fall apart The myth of “culture” as a justification for return to office And the strange but real lore of early Amazon office culture If you work in software engineering, big tech, corporate tech, or remote work environments, this episode will feel uncomfortably familiar. Topics discussed: Amazon RTO policy Remote work vs return to office Remote work productivity and collaboration Big tech management and leadership Startup culture vs corporate reality Middle management in software companies Tech industry work culture Comment below: Is return to office actually better for innovation and collaboration, or is this just corporate cope dressed up as culture? Like, subscribe, and share if you’ve lived through an RTO mandate or are about to.