03:58 PM EDT, 09/16/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Amazon ( AMZN ) announced plans on Monday requiring employees to return to the office five days a week beginning in January, while reducing the number of managers to minimize any organizational bureaucracy.

After asking employees to come back to work three days a week last year, management has observed that it's more effective for employees to collaborate when teams are together in the office, Chief Executive Andy Jassy said in a memo published on the company's website.

"When we look back over the last five years, we continue to believe that the advantages of being together in the office are significant," Jassy said. The last 15 months of the hybrid three-day-a-week structure has "strengthened our conviction about the benefits," he said.

The new in-office policy at the e-commerce and cloud giant will go into effect on Jan. 2.

Amazon ( AMZN ) will increase the ratio of individual contributors to managers by at least 15% by the end of the first quarter of 2025, according to Jassy.

"Having fewer managers will remove layers and flatten organizations more than they are today," he said.

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