On May 1st, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy stood in the lobby of the company's Seattle headquarters,

fist bumping employees.

In a company video called Amazon Welcome Day, you see Jassy surrounded by balloons, smiling

greeters dressed in orange company polos, and free bananas from Amazon's community banana

stand.

Welcome to me, you.

Well I'm really excited to have more of my teammates back in the office.

I think we're pretty convinced that we're going to invent and collaborate better when we're

in the office more together.

I think the real thing that happens is really different.

I think the ability to map out ideas and the whiteboard when you're done with a meeting

is different.

Those serendipitous meetings happen a lot more when we're together.

Amazon's corporate staffers are now required to be in the office at least three days a

week, meaning employees are in person, some for the first time since the pandemic, and

others for the first time ever.

Last month's official end of the nation's pandemic emergency declaration kickstarted the

latest round of back to the office pushes for many American companies.

Apple, Meta and Disney, they all want their workers off Zoom and back to working face

to face.

The reason why was best evangelized by Silicon Valley's creative guru, the late Steve Jobs.

He designed Apple's circular headquarters to force people to walk through the office,

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