Amazon on Thursday pushed back its return-to-office date for corporate employees until Jan. 3, 2022, due to COVID-19. Employees had been set to return to the office Sept. 7.
“As we continue to closely watch conditions related to COVID-19, we are adjusting our guidance for corporate employees in the U.S. and other countries where we had previously anticipated our employees would begin coming in regularly the week of Sept. 7,” Amazon HR chief Beth Galetti said in a staff email obtained by The Seattle Times. “We are now extending this date to Jan. 3, 2022.”
A company spokesperson confirmed the postponement in an email to TheWrap soon after The Seattle Times’ story ran on Thursday.
The tech giant’s decision delays the return of Amazon Studios’ employees to their Culver City office; the Los Angeles Times last year estimated Amazon had 2,400 Culver City employees.
Amazon’s decision also comes after several other tech companies have pushed back their return-to-office date because of the Delta variant’s emergence, including Apple and Alphabet, which bumped their return dates from September to October. Facebook, Alphabet and Microsoft have also recently announced they’re requiring employees are vaccinated before entering company buildings.
The CDC’s website on Thursday said 70.2% of American adults have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot.