Amazon employees stage walkout at company headquarters in Seattle

Amazon employees staged a walkout at company headquarters in Seattle on Wednesday (May 31) to protest against changes in company’s climate policy, layoffs and a return-to-office mandate. There was a gathering of more than 100 people by afternoon near the Spheres, a glass-dome monument at Amazon’s headquarters.

"Emissions climbing. Time to act!" the group chanted. "Stand together; don't turn back!"

More than 1,900 employees had pledged to protest globally, according to the organisers, an activist group known as Amazon Employees for Climate Justice (AECJ).

"I'm out here to support everyone at Amazon who believes we can just do better. You know, we can do better on the environment, we can do better on personal choice, and family and work balance. It's real simple," said Kevin Freitas, who has worked at the company for six years."

AECJ has said that the walkout has followed moves from Amazon "in the wrong direction". The company recently removed a goal to make all Amazon shipments net zero carbon emissions by 2030. The company still has a broader pledge on climate for a decade later.

The e-commerce giant has also cut about 27,000 roles within the company in recent months. This comes to 9 per cent of its corporate workforce. This is quite a shift for a company that touted its job creation.

A return-to-office mandate by May 1 caused confusion for some staff as to whether they needed to relocate homes nearer to work or whether they would be laid off beforehand.

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Brad Glasser, Amazon spokesperson, released a statement and said that the company was pushing hard to cut carbon emissions.

He added that Amazon listens to employee feedback and was happy with the collaboration that arose from its return-to-office policy.

There have been other protests in recent years, including in 2019, when Amazon workers were among hundreds of employees of large technology companies to join marches in San Francisco and Seattle, saying their employers were too slow to tackle global warming.

(With inputs from agencies)

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