Return-to-work policies and a frustration with the company’s climate change commitments prompted some Amazon employees to walk off the job Wednesday. Credit: Shutterstock Several hundred tech and administrative workers at Amazon’s main headquarters in Seattle staged a walkout today, urging the technology and retail giant to adopt more climate-friendly policies and do away with rules mandating in-office work. Several speakers at an event — which was broadcast on Twitter — spoke outside the company’s headquarters Wednesday morning, saying that climate change wasn’t being taken sufficiently seriously by Amazon, and arguing for a range of policies that would reduce the company’s impact on the environment. The event was organized in part by a group called Amazon Employees for Climate Justice. Representatives from other groups — including Minneapolis labor advocacy group the Awood Center, which helped Amazon warehouse workers in that city organize for better working conditions — sent statements of support, and speakers included the director of local climate justice action group 350 Seattle, Shemona Moreno. “Keep pushing Amazon to become part of the green new deal,” urged Moreno. “You can change Amazon if you organize,” said Awood Center executive director Abdirahman Muse, in a statement read by one of the Seattle speakers. Part of the reason for the walkout, according to a statement issued by Amazon Employees for Climate Justice (AECJ), is the company’s recent admission that it had dropped its commitment to its “Shipment Zero” policy, which pledged in 2019 to reduce carbon emissions to net zero on 50% of its shipments by 2030. “I’m appalled that senior leadership quietly abandoned one of the key goals in the climate pledge,” said one unnamed worker in the statement. “It’s yet another sign that leadership still doesn’t put climate impact at the center of their decision-making. That’s why I walked out.” The group also accused Amazon of backtracking on other commitments to reducing its environmental impact, including undercounting its carbon footprint, disproportionately locating pollution-heavy operations in communities of color, and working to undercut clean energy legislation. Amazon spokesperson Brad Glasser urged patience, and highlighted that many items in the company’s climate pledge would take time to realize. “While we all would like to get there tomorrow, for companies like ours who consume a lot of power, and have very substantial transportation, packaging, and physical building assets, it’ll take time to accomplish,” Glasser said. Pushing back on return to office The walkout was also organized to protest mandatory return-to-office policies implemented by the company. The AECJ statement called the return-to-office policy a “fumbled rollout” and said that it threatened the company’s long-term success. “If we want to attract the best people from all over the world, senior leadership has to change with the times,” said one worker quoted in the statement. “I don’t trust senior leadership’s decision-making anymore and I know I’m not alone.” Glasser’s statement said that Amazon was “happy” with how the first month of the new policy has gone. “There’s more energy, collaboration, and connections happening, and we’ve heard this from lots of employees and the businesses that surround our offices,” said Glasser. “We understand that it’s going to take time to adjust back to being in the office more and there are a lot of teams at the company working hard to make this transition as smooth as possible for employees.” Related content news Apple makes a deal to open iPhone to Generation GenAI The company is reportedly working on a deal with OpenAi's ChatGPT to bring generative AI to iPhone and Siri. By Jonny Evans May 13, 2024 4 mins iPhone Siri Apple news EC to include Teams as part of antitrust charges despite Microsoft concessions Unbundling the collaboration suite from Office was not enough to appease investigators, who continue to investigate anticompetitive practices by the tech giant. By Elizabeth Montalbano May 13, 2024 4 mins Regulation Microsoft Teams feature Windows 11 Insider Previews: What’s in the latest build? Get the latest info on new preview builds of Windows 11 as they roll out to Windows Insiders. Now updated for Preview Build 26120.470 for the Dev channel and Preview Build 22635.3575 for the Beta channel, both released on May 10, 2024. By Preston Gralla May 13, 2024 255 mins Small and Medium Business Microsoft Windows 11 opinion A glimpse at the powerful future of information Perplexity AI combines Google-like search results with ChatGPT-like summaries. Now, they’re adding humans into the mix. By Mike Elgan May 13, 2024 8 mins Generative AI Technology Industry Web Search Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe