Transcription:
Conway Gittens: I'm Conway Gittens reporting from the New York Stock Exchange. Here's what we're watching today on TheStreet.
Interest rates are the main concern for investors as the Federal Reserve begins a two-day meeting. Policymakers have new data to consider as they decide how deep to cut. Retail sales rose surprisingly in August, indicating the economy remains on solid footing. Meanwhile, industrial output rebounded strongly in August after a hurricane-related slowdown the previous month.
Related: amazon CEO revokes a major perk that employees love
In other news… the list of high-profile companies ordering workers back to the office full-time continues to grow. amazon told its employees that all corporate workers must return to a five-day in-person workweek starting in January 2025. Previously, amazon only required workers to be in the office three days a week.
CEO Andy Jassy explained his rationale for a full return-to-office policy in a note to employees. “We’ve found it easier for our teammates to learn, model, practice, and strengthen our culture; collaborating, brainstorming, and inventing are simpler and more effective; teaching and learning from each other is more fluid; and teams tend to be better connected to each other.”
Previous attempts to scale back work from home were met with strong resistance from amazon employees. However, experts say times have changed and the balance of power has shifted back to employers. amazon isn’t the only company to end or reduce work from home — some of the country’s largest employers have, too, including General Motors, Walt Disney, Walmart, UPS, Meta, and IBM. One thing to note about this list: Many of those companies hired more employees during the pandemic or have seen their activity slow noticeably since the peak of the pandemic.
Despite these high-profile names, working from home isn’t entirely dead. According to a survey conducted earlier this year by the Conference Board, only 4 percent of CEOs said a full return-to-office policy was a priority.
That's it for the daily roundup. From the New York Stock Exchange, I'm TheStreet's Conway Gittens.
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