More than 50,000 Amazon employees will return to work in Seattle for the first required in-person Monday shift in years, marking a major adjustment for the region’s commuters.

Tens of thousands of Amazon employees will return to work in Seattle for their first required in-person Monday shift in years. Now the traffic in Seattle is expected to seriously ramp up, especially in the South Lake Union neighborhood.

Amazon has demanded that all of its employees return to the office full-time, five days a week. Now, as those workers head back to the office, officials in the company’s home base of Seattle are warning that the policy may clog up local traffic routes.

Amazon’s in-office policy now requires workers to be physically present five days a week for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.

As more Seattle-area employees returned to the office last year, traffic got worse as the city's roadways got clogged with vehicles

CEO Andy Jassy signaled the mandate last fall, noting that collaboration and productivity are better when people are working side-by-side.

Beginning Thursday, Amazon employees will be required to work in the office five days a week. CEO Andy Jassy sent out a message to employees about the change Sept. 16. Like many other companies, Amazon’s corporate employees worked remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic.