AT&T, Sweetgreen Follow Amazon’s Lead With New Return-to-Office Mandates

Telecom giant at&t and salad chain Sweetgreen are the latest companies to follow in Amazon’s footsteps when it comes to return-to-office mandates for 2025.

AT&T will require all corporate staffers to go into the office five days per week starting in January, while Sweetgreen’s non-frontline employees will be expected in the office four days per week in the new year, according to Bloomberg, which first reported the news.

The specific policies for each company will vary by organization and location, Bloomberg reported.

Both companies switched from their current policy requiring workers in the office roughly three days a week to the new mandates after Amazon (AMZN) CEO Andy Jassy announced in September that all of the tech giant’s office workers must return to their desks five days per week in 2025.

“That was the big turning point where everyone’s like, ‘Oh, they’re doing it, now we can do it,’” Sweetgreen CEO Jonathan Neman told Bloomberg.

A spokesperson for Sweetgreen did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.

AT&T’s employees, meanwhile, have largely already been working in the office five days a week, even during the pandemic, a spokesperson for the company told Commercial Observer.

“We always adapt our workforce model to drive collaboration and innovation to deliver the best support for our customers,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “As we continue to evolve our model, we are enhancing our facilities and workspaces, adapting our benefits programs, and incorporating best practices to ensure our employees are best equipped to serve our customers.”

AT&T is tightening its return-to-office policy after CEO John Stankey said in 2023 that more than 60,000 managers would have to relocate amid an office consolidation, with some suggesting the move was a cover-up for mass layoffs, Bloomberg reported.

Ever since Amazon’s announcement in September, more and more companies have formed their own return-to-office mandates.

That includes Starbucks, which told its corporate staff in October they must work in the office three days per week starting next year, or else they could be fired, CO reported.

Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.