Amazon is cutting out the middle manager. Here’s why you shouldn’t.

But more important: A hybrid workforce is harder to lead and manage than an in-person workforce, a natural consequence of there being less time for managers and staff to interact as human beings. So, Amazon, like many companies during the pandemic, decided to throw more managers at the problem.

Because of this, assuming Amazon could successfully eliminate hybrid work, yes, that would help the company get by with fewer managers overseeing the flock.

Offsetting this advantage, however, is the reduction in employee quality Amazon is likely to suffer as it drives away its best employees and candidate employees — the very ones it will need for a flattened and reorganized workforce to succeed, and who will insist on being able to work at home for a significant part of their work week.