[ad_1]
Company employees of the online retail giant in several countries, including the United States, were originally scheduled to start returning to the office by September 7, but that date has now been moved to January 3, 2022, Amazon (AMZN) told CNN Business.
Upon their return, employees will be required to wear masks inside the office, unless they have proven they are vaccinated, the company added.
The change for corporate workers comes after Amazon recalled certain pandemic safety precautions for its warehouse workers. Amazon recently announced that it will stop offering Covid-19 tests on-site by the end of July, citing the wide availability of tests and vaccines. In late May, Amazon informed workers that it would lift its mask mandate for fully vaccinated warehouse workers, a change after guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that fully vaccinated people can be pass masks in most circumstances as long as it complies with local workplace and business policies.
Many of the biggest companies in the tech industry, which were among the first to close their offices at the start of the pandemic last year, had set September as a goal of reopening. Now these companies are delaying those plans due to concerns about the increase in the Delta variant – and in some cases, they are requiring vaccinations for returning employees.
Google (GOOGL) announced last week that it would be pushing back its office return date from September 1 to October 18, while the ridesharing company Uber (UBER) said he would not reopen his offices until October 25. Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook also confirmed in an interview with CNBC that the company will delay its scheduled reopening in September by at least a month.
Microsoft (MSFT), which like Amazon is headquartered near Seattle, also postponed its full reopening and said earlier this week that it would not allow all workers to return until October 4.
At least one tech company – Lift (LIFT) – goes even further than Amazon. Company CEO Logan Green told employees earlier this month that most of its U.S. offices will now reopen on February 2, 2022.
[ad_2]
Source link