Amazon.com is backing off plans to ban cell phones in warehouses, allowing employees to keep their devices with them at work.
The reversal follows the emergence of a more contagious strain of Covid-19 and after six workers died at a facility struck by a tornado last week, which reinforced a desire among warehouse employees to have access to real-time information in emergencies.
Some Amazon warehouse workers received messages from the e-commerce giant on Friday that mobile phones would be allowed “until further notice,” which a spokeswoman for the company confirmed on Saturday.
For years, Amazon prohibited employees from having phones on warehouse floors