Amazon's full RTO is off to a bumpy start. Some staff complain of a lack of space and theft. And they're still on video chats.

 

zhengshun tang/Getty, Tyler Le

• Most Amazon corporate employees started working in the office five days a week in January 2025.
• Some employees reported issues such as lack of desks, full parking lots, and office theft.
• Others are keen to re-connect with colleagues. "You just can't recreate these connections online."

Amazon's five-day return-to-office mandate is off to a bumpy start.

Employees who spoke to Business Insider said the new office policy, which kicked off at the beginning of the year, has resulted in full parking lots, a lack of desks and meeting rooms, and items being stolen from desks.

While some employees praised the new policy as more face-to-face interactions have at times resulted in better collaboration, others say they still spend much of their time on video chats and in other virtual meetings.

BI spoke to seven current Amazon employees about the new office mandate. The employees also shared screenshots of group Slack messages and other private communications.

"Please go back to RTO3," one Amazon employee wrote on Slack, referring to Amazon's previous policy that allowed staff to work two days a week from home. "Or allow employees the option to WFH if they have the proper set up and they are high performers."

That Slack post garnered at least 22 supportive emojis from other Amazon colleagues.

Change is hard

Amazon's Seattle HQ

Amazon

Amazon has 1.5 million workers, of which roughly 350,000 are corporate staff. So those people who are openly complaining about the full RTO experience represent a tiny fraction of the company's workforce.

Some of the complaints may be a natural reaction to what is a drastic change of daily life for thousands of employees who slowly got used to working from home in the pandemic, and now must adjust again to a new reality.

Peter Cappelli, director of Wharton's Center for Human Resources, told BI that forcing employees to return to the office can stoke resentment. But even if management does a poor job with the transition, employees cannot do much because RTO is often "painful." And quitting isn't an option as fewer companies offer remote work these days, he noted.

"Employers have all the power here," Cappelli added.

Some Amazon employees are RTO-happy

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy

Amazon

Not all Amazon employees are grumpy about working in the office every day of the week.

BI asked Amazon for examples of employees who are positive about the full return to office. The company's press office shared thoughts from two employees.

Rena Palumbo, an Amazon Web Services employee, said re-establishing human connection with colleagues has been important, and she's now more excited about working with them.

Cash Ashley, another AWS employee, said face-to-face interactions have been crucial for building work relationships and creating mentorship opportunities. He said RTO also helps with work-life balance because there's a clear separation between work and home.

"You just can't recreate these connections online," Ashley said.

In an email to BI, Amazon's spokesperson said the company is focused on ensuring the transition is "as smooth as possible."

"While we've heard ideas for improvement from a relatively small number of employees and are working to address those, these anonymous anecdotes don't reflect the sentiment we're hearing from most of our teammates," the spokesperson said. "What we're seeing is great energy across our offices, and we're excited by the innovation, collaboration and connection that we've seen already with our teams working in person together."

CEO Andy Jassy said last year that the new policy is meant to improve team collaboration and "further strengthen" the company's culture. AWS CEO Matt Garman also told employees in October that 9 out of 10 people he spoke to were "excited" about the change.

Lack of desks and meeting rooms

Most of Amazon's corporate employees started following the five-day office return mandate in early January. There are some signs that the company wasn't fully prepared for the logistical challenges.

Some workers found there weren't enough desks and had to track down space in a cafeteria or a hallway, two employees told BI. Others said there weren't enough chairs in offices and meeting rooms.

There's also been a shortage of meeting rooms, one of the people said. Some people got used to speaking openly about private topics while working from home. Now they're surrounded by colleagues in the office, so they are unofficially slipping into meeting rooms and phone rooms to conduct these conversations, this person said. That's clogged up meeting spaces and left some managers having private chats in open areas for everyone in the office to hear.

Full parking and shuttles

Amazon's Seattle HQ

Amazon

Some Amazon employees complained on Slack that when they drove to the office they were turned away because company parking lots were full. Others said they just drove back home, while some staffers found street parking nearby, according to multiple Slack messages seen by BI.

One employee from Amazon's Nashville office said the wait time for a company parking pass is backed up for months, although another staffer there said the company was providing free commuter passes which they described as "incredibly generous."

Another Amazon worker said some colleagues are joining morning work meetings from the road because the flood of extra employees coming to the office is making commutes longer.

Other staffers said they were denied a spot on Amazon shuttle buses because the vehicles were full, according to one of the Slack messages viewed by BI.

Signs of strain

With so many Amazon employees spread out across well over 100 locations around the globe, getting everyone back into an office smoothly is going to take more than a few weeks.

Indeed, Amazon delayed full RTO at dozens of locations, with some postponed to as late as May, due to office capacity issues, BI previously reported. Amazon subsidiaries, such as One Medical and Twitch, have also delayed or received exemptions from the five-day office-return policy, BI reported.

"Our upper 'leadership' has botched this so hard along with so many other things. Makes one wonder what other poor decisions will impact the company in the coming year," an Amazon worker recently wrote on the company's Slack.

Amazon's spokesperson told BI that the company is ready for the vast majority of employees to be back in the office.

"As of early January, the overwhelming majority of our employees have dedicated workspaces and have returned to the office full time," the spokesperson said. "Of the hundreds of offices we have all around the world, there are only a relatively small number that are not quite ready to welcome everyone back a full five days a week."

Office thefts and daily shower reminders

In some cases, basic office etiquette seemed missing as staff returned in the first week or so of January.

Several employees at Amazon's Toronto office complained of their personal belongings being repeatedly stolen from desks, according to the Slack messages.

One person complained that a keyboard and mouse placed on their assigned desk had gone missing, while another urged employees to keep their possessions in a safe place.

"Despite being adults that are well-paid, it's shameful that we can't trust each other with leaving personal belongings unattended," one worker wrote on Slack. An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment when BI specifically asked about this issue.

An office "survival guide"

On Blind, which runs anonymous message boards for corporate employees, Amazon staffers posted an "essential survival guide," offering tips for colleagues coming back to the office.

"Operation: Don't Be The Office Menace" listed several dos and don'ts for working around other people.

"Deploy personal hygiene protocols BEFORE leaving your launch pad (home). Yes, that means actually using the shower you've been avoiding since WFH began," read one piece of advice for office life at Amazon.

Another urged colleagues to keep the toilets tidy. "The bathroom stall is not a 'serverless' environment. Flush after use — it's called 'garbage collection' for a reason."

A third tip focused on the types of shoes to wear in the office. "Footwear is not optional. This isn't a beach sprint retrospective — keep those toes contained in their proper containers (shoes)."

'Very little team discussion'

RTO has been one of Amazon's most contentious issues over the past couple of years. Tens of thousands of Amazon employees signed internal petitions opposing the mandate, while internal Slack channels blew up with questions about the change. Jassy has had to address the issue repeatedly during internal all-hands meetings.

This month, some employees were still questioning the logic behind the policy. They said being in the office has so far had little effect on their work routine and has not generated much of a productivity gain.

A considerable portion of their in-office work is still being done through video calls with customers who are located elsewhere, these employees told BI.

Many Amazon colleagues are based in other office locations, so face-to-face meetings still don't happen very often, they added.

"Very little team discussion while here," one employee wrote on Slack.

Do you work at Amazon? Got a tip?

Contact the reporter, Eugene Kim, via the encrypted-messaging apps Signal or Telegram (+1-650-942-3061) or email (ekim@businessinsider.com). Reach out using a nonwork device. Check out Business Insider's source guide for other tips on sharing information securely.

Contact the reporter, Ashley Stewart, via the encrypted messaging app Signal (+1-425-344-8242) or email (astewart@businessinsider.com). Use a nonwork device.

Contact BI reporter Jyoti Mann from a nonwork email and device at jmann@businessinsider.com or via Signal at jyotimann.11.

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Newly public FBI records from the 1970s reveal an investigation into Home Depot cofounders over alleged anti-union bribery

Home Depot cofounders Bernie Marcus, left, and Arthur Blank, right.

AP/John Bazemore

• Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank founded Home Depot in 1978 after they were fired from retailer Handy Dan.
• FBI records show the pair were investigated over claims they tried to bribe Handy Dan workers to decertify their union.
• The investigation ended in 1983 when a prosecutor determined the case was too old and the evidence was "insufficient."

The Home Depot cofounders Bernie Marcus and Arthur Blank were investigated by the FBI in the 1970s and '80s over claims they used a $140,000 "slush fund" to try to bribe employees at a California home-improvement retailer to decertify their union, newly public records show.

The investigation spanned from 1978 to 1983 and focused on their time as executives at Handy Dan Home Improvement Centers. Marcus, who died at 95 in 2024 with a net worth of more than $10 billion, served as Handy Dan's president. Blank, now 82 and worth over $9 billion, was the company's treasurer.

Marcus and Blank were fired in 1978 after Handy Dan's corporate parent said in securities filings that it found "unauthorized and unacceptable business practices" at the company, The Wall Street Journal reported at the time. Handy Dan's corporate parent later said the two men used company funds to pay employees to favor union decertification, the Journal reported.

The FBI began investigating in late 1978 after a lawyer for a retail workers labor union filed a complaint to federal authorities based on The Wall Street Journal story.

Federal agents said their investigation substantiated the claim, according to the records. No charges were ever brought; the records cited "insufficient" evidence and "statute of limitations problems." The effort to decertify the union was ultimately unsuccessful.

"Investigation revealed that from early 1977 through early 1978 approximately $140,000 in corporate funds" were paid to workers to influence them, an FBI agent wrote in a memo. "Numerous employees have admitted receiving cash (over and above wages) usually received in plain envelopes."

The FBI interviewed at least eight witnesses, whose names were largely redacted in the records. One anti-union employee told investigators that money "was only furnished to those whom the company thought would eventually vote for the decertification." Clinton Doolen, a manager who died in 1992, recalled Marcus saying that "money was no object" when it came to dislodging the union, the records show.

"Marcus was strictly against the unions and highly obsessed with getting the union completely out," another witness told the FBI. The witness said Marcus told them he was willing to use any means to break the union, and the witness "could see that Marcus really meant it."

Marcus offered a different version of events. In the 1999 book "Built From Scratch," he said he learned some Handy Dan employees wanted to disband their union. He said he hired a lawyer and "directed our personnel department to do whatever fell within the legal guidelines" to support them.

He said that the chairman of Handy Dan's parent company twisted the truth and used an internal investigation "as a tool to eliminate me," and that "neither the Justice Department nor the SEC instigated investigations."

FBI records show Marcus testified in a Securities and Exchange Commission proceeding in July 1978, about three months after he was fired. He declined, through a lawyer, to be interviewed by the FBI. It's not clear if Blank was a subject of inquiry by the SEC.

The SEC and two top-ranking officials at the Marcus Foundation didn't reply to comment requests, nor did Marcus' son Frederick Marcus, who is a director of the foundation. Representatives for Blank, Home Depot, the Justice Department, and the FBI declined to comment.

Business Insider obtained the FBI records in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. Blank's name was redacted, but his job title matched that of the subject in question. A third person whose name was redacted was also a subject of the investigation.

The FBI submitted a "prosecutive report" to the Justice Department in March 1982. A year later, a federal prosecutor decided not to move forward with the case. The prosecutor didn't believe there was enough evidence against Marcus, Blank, and the third person to indict them, and the union election at the center of the investigation was more than five years old, an FBI memo said.

Marcus and Blank founded Home Depot in 1978, eventually transforming it into the world's largest home-improvement retail company. Its stores aren't unionized; in 2022, the last time a petition was filed at a store for a union election, union advocates suffered a resounding defeat.

Marcus' anti-union sentiments were well known. In 2008, he called a bill that would make it easier for employees to form unions "the demise of civilization," and in 2010, he founded the Job Creators Network, which has opposed bills that would increase union power.

Both men have been significant political donors. Blank has primarily supported Democratic candidates, while Marcus gave millions to Republican candidates, and once said that retail executives who weren't helping Republicans "should be shot."

Read the documents here:

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What happened to Hotmail? Microsoft's once-ubiquitous email platform still exists, but not in the form you remember

Hotmail was once one of the most popular email platforms. You can still get a Hotmail address, but only through Microsoft Outlook.

Alex Tan/AFP via Getty Images

• Hotmail is a Microsoft-owned email platform that surged to popularity over two decades ago.
• Microsoft ultimately folded Hotmail into its broader software suite known as Microsoft Outlook.
• You can still create a Hotmail.com email address, but through Outlook.

A generation ago, AOL, Ask Jeeves, GeoCities, and Hotmail were all the rage. Surprisingly, of those 1990s vintage platforms, only AOL still exists in anything like its original form. Ask Jeeves is now Ask.com, and GeoCities is simply gone.

As for Hotmail, it's still around, but not in the same form as you remember it. Hotmail is now part of Microsoft Outlook, an email, calendar, contact, and scheduling software suite favored by many businesses. And while you can still get and use a Hotmail email address, don't bother trying to do so at Hotmail.com — you'll just be redirected to Outlook, which was once part of Microsoft Office, now known as Microsoft 365.

When was Hotmail launched and what were its early days like?

Microsoft had gained massive success with its Windows operating system, and eventually bought the Hotmail email platform.

Neil Munns - PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images

Hotmail was first launched in the summer of 1996, and it was bought by Microsoft the following year, as the company coasted on the success of its massively popular Windows operating system. Microsoft ultimately rebranded Hotmail as MSN Hotmail, though that name was rarely used by the public.

Despite being one of the most popular email platforms of the late 1990s and early 2000s, Hotmail was also plagued by problems.

In 1999, for example, it came out that any account could be logged into using the word "eh" as the password, prompting a hurried security fix. And then, two years later, hackers found an easy way to extract email from another user's account by creating a URL that included that account's email address.

Still, Hotmail remained popular throughout the first decade of the 21st century, though in the 2010s, Microsoft would merge Hotmail into its new program, Microsoft Outlook.

What happened to Hotmail?

In 2013, Microsoft rolled Hotmail into Outlook and sunset the original email service. But despite being officially discontinued, Hotmail did not in fact go away. You can still use your Hotmail email address and in fact you can log into Outlook with it. You can also log into Outlook with a Live or MSN email address, or of course with an Outlook email.

As of now, Outlook seems like it will not be going anywhere any time soon, so don't worry about yet another change coming. While not as venerable as, say, Microsoft Word, it is a core platform of the company.

Can you still get a Hotmail address?

Yes, you can still get a Hotmail email address, but you will have to access it through the Outlook platform. When signing up, you can choose a Hotmail.com address as your email domain.

How can I access my old Hotmail account?

To recover an old Hotmail account, go to Microsoft's account recovery page, then follow the prompts on screen, which will have you enter an old email account to be recovered as well as a current account to which to send the information.

Keep in mind that if your Hotmail account was totally inactive for more than two years it may have been permanently deleted.

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The cost of the Los Angeles wildfires' damage could be at least $250 billion. Here's who pays the bills.

The Los Angeles wildfires are expected to cost as much as $275 billion and counting.

The Washington Post via Getty Images

• The LA wildfires could cost between $250 and $275 billion in damages while displacing thousands.
• High property values in areas like the Pacific Palisades are contributing to the massive cost.
• Governments, insurers, and residents face long-term financial burdens from the disaster.

The damage and economic cost estimates for the wildfires in Los Angeles are in the hundreds of billions, a bill that will be split among local and federal governments, insurers, and residents.

As of January 14, LA authorities reported that 24 people have died and over 12,300 structures have been destroyed. Meanwhile, more than 40,000 acres have burned, displacing residents and leveling entire neighborhoods. High winds expected this week have firefighters racing to contain the blazes.

And, as the damage increases, so does the price tag.

A new estimate by weather data platform AccuWeather puts the total cost between $250 and $275 billion and calls the damage "catastrophic." The full cost of the wildfires won't be clear until long after the smoke clears, and expensive rebuilding efforts could take years.

The wildfire cost will likely be calculated through direct and indirect damages

Since 1980, more than 400 weather and climate events in the US have exceeded $1 billion in damages when adjusted for inflation, per the National Centers for Environmental Information.

The Los Angeles wildfires could be among the most expensive on record. The total cost of a disaster is calculated from both direct and indirect losses, said Jeff Schlegelmilch, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University.

AccuWeather's estimate accounts for direct costs like rebuilding, relocation, cleanup costs, and emergency shelter expenses. It also factors in indirect costs: healthcare bills for people who were injured or exposed to wildfire smoke, lost wages and housing displacement for employees, along with hits to the local job market, business scene, and tourism industry.

Part of the reason that the LA fires are so costly is because of the area's high property values, Schlegelmilch said. The severely impacted Pacific Palisades neighborhood, for example, is home to several celebrities and has an average home value of $3.5 million.

Beyond direct damages and lost economic opportunity, there are costs that are difficult to quantify. Many LA residents are facing the costs of short or long-term displacement, along with emotional or physical trauma.

A combination of governments, insurance companies, and LA residents could pay the bill

In the immediate aftermath of a natural disaster, local and federal governments pick up some of the tab.

The Federal Emergency Response Agency (FEMA) provides a variety of aid like supplying hazard mitigation, clearing debris, and financing emergency shelters, along with offering monetary support to some displaced residents. The federal government often signs off on block grants — money that is directed from national to local governments for a specific purpose, like disaster relief — but it could take months or years for that money to become accessible to local communities.

State and LA-county leaders, the Small Business Administration, and philanthropic groups will also likely shoulder some rebuilding costs for homes and businesses.

President Joe Biden said the federal government will cover 100% of fire response costs and provide a one-time $770 stimulus check for those impacted: "I told the governor and local officials, spare no expense," he said on January 9. Congress has not yet reached an agreement on an aid package, and it's not clear what President-elect Donald Trump's plan will be for disaster relief in California.

Still, most government response programs are not built to provide long-term aid.

"FEMA is not designed to make you whole again," Schlegelmilch said. "It's not designed to completely pay for the cost of rebuilding a new house."

Private and state insurers will be responsible for covering much — but not all — of the property damage for their customers, he added.

However, not all homeowners are insured. Companies like State Farm and Farmers have recently cut or restricted coverage in areas they deem "uninsurable" due to high and rising disaster risks, leaving thousands of LA-area households uninsured or forced to enroll in FAIR, the state's insurer of last resort. This means some residents can expect significant out-of-pocket costs to repair their homes.

Schlegelmilch added that LA residents will feel wildfire impacts in other parts of the economy too.

The cost of construction will likely increase as local residents and businesses look to rebuild, he said. Schlegelmilch expects that the price of hiring contractors, plumbers, electricians, and other specialists will increase with steep demand.

Consumer prices in the LA-area for things like rent, lumber, and building materials may also spike because of price gouging, increased demand, or damaged supply, Schlegelmilch said. He said taxes likely won't change in the short-term, but the overall cost of living in the area could become more expensive with time.

Past natural disaster response shows what LA might expect

Previous devastating natural disasters give a clue into how wildfire costs could be handled in LA.

Following 2012's Hurricane Sandy in New York, Congress provided around $20 billion adjusted for inflation to 2024 dollars to affected areas through a Community Development Block Grant. That represents a share of the storm's inflation-adjusted $88.5 billion cost, per the National Centers for Environmental Information. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 caused $201.3 billion in inflation-adjusted damages, which was partially covered by federal emergency response and recovery grants.

Schlegelmilch said that a key challenge with disaster relief in cases like Sandy and Katrina is that aid can be distributed inequitably between high and lower-income areas because wealthier areas often have stronger insurance and access to resources. He cautions that the same could happen in California.

"Those that are the most vulnerable before often see that vulnerability grow," Schlegelmilch said," adding "a lot of times we see this along racial lines, along socio-economic lines, and we see communities decades later still struggling to recover when the downtown areas are nice and new and everyone says it's back to normal."

Looking forward, Schlegelmilch said that disaster preparedness policies could help alleviate losses and keep residents safe. He said this could look like building with flame-retardant materials, widening roads that allow for emergency vehicles to easily pass through when necessary, and planting less flammable vegetation in dry areas.

"There's actually quite a bit that can be redone in the rebuilding process that can help lower the risk into the future," he said. "There are costs associated with it, and in the short-run, it may be more expensive. But, in the long run, it's a lot less expensive."

Have you experienced steep out-of-pocket or insurance costs due to a natural disaster? Are you open to sharing your experience with a reporter? If so, reach out to allisonkelly@businessinsider.com.

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These TikTok alternatives could help you fill the void if the app is banned

TikTok's ethos and community are unique. But the short-form video field is crowded.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

• As a TikTok ban looks more likely, several apps are vying for its crown.
• Sister app Lemon8 has soared in popularity, but would likely get the ax, too.
• Meta, YouTube, and Snapchat have been competing in short-form video for years.

As TikTok inches toward potential extinction in the US, creators are trying to transition viewers to other platforms, while some viewers are already in a state of mourning.

The Chinese-owned platform is set to be yanked from US app stores on January 19. That's unless it's tossed a last-minute life raft by the Supreme Court or President-elect Donald Trump, who has asked the court to pause an enforcement deadline.

The former scenario is looking increasingly unlikely, however, as legal experts tell Business Insider that the Supreme Court appears to be leaning toward upholding the divest-or-ban law.

If the app goes dark, US users will have to look elsewhere for a short-form video fix. TikTok's ethos and community are unique, but competing formats exist on the world's biggest social-media apps, and are also offered by emerging competitors.

Here's who is — and who's not — in the running.

Meta, YouTube, and Snapchat have been competing in short-form video for years

Instagram Reels

CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty Images

Data shows that new apps often struggle to gain long-term traction when they have well-established rivals. And Meta, YouTube, and Snapchat have all been competing in the short-form space for years.

Meta launched Instagram reels in 2020 to great success — even chipping away at TikTok usage, according to two studies from last year.

YouTube, the original video giant, added short-form video in 2021, which has paid off handsomely. More recently, the Google-owned platform has used the prospect of a ban as a selling point for its ad team.

Snapchat, for its part, launched a TikTok counterpart called Spotlight in 2020, offering payouts to get creators to post.

Meanwhile, LinkedIn has more recently targeted TikTok by encouraging influencers to post short-form content. Some have told Business Insider that they've seen engagement boosts as a result.

TikTok sister app Lemon8 would likely get the ax, too

Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images

TikTok sister app, Lemon8, has soared to the top of the app charts in recent weeks. Lemon8 is reminiscent of Pinterest and contains a mix of photos and videos.

However, given that the law specifically mentions ByteDance, the parent company of the two apps, Lemon8 would likely be banned along with TikTok.

Christopher Krepich, the communications director for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, previously told Forbes the bill would ban Lemon8 unless ByteDance divested.

Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote, another Chinese social app — which functions like Instagram but with more commerce features — has recently surged in popularity. It could, however, also be subject to the same divest-or-ban law as TikTok if the US government chose to target it.

Triller has long positioned itself as a TikTok rival

Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

Triller has long sought to position itself as an alternative to TikTok — and currently offers a tool to help creators save their videos ahead of a potential ban.

Triller has gone through a series of strategy shifts over the years. After several false starts, it went public late last year through a reverse merger with a Hong Kong-based company called AGBA Group Holding Limited.

It recently hired former TikTok product head Sean Kim to run its video app, as well as several other subsidiaries.

Apps like Whatnot could fill a shopping void

Whatnot

TikTok helped social shopping break through in the US in a major way in 2024. The app drove $100 million in US sales on Black Friday alone, for example.

It's not the only one in the space, however. Some of its competitors include Flip and Complex Shop, formerly known as NTWRK. Flip, which raised $144 million last April at a $1 billion valuation, according to Bloomberg, launched in 2019 and enables users to post short, shoppable reviews.

Whatnot also made headlines after closing a $265 million funding round earlier this month at a $5 billion valuation. The app hosts livestreams across categories like fashion, collectibles, and storage unit finds.

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The US keeps hitting Putin's war chest with energy sanctions. The impact goes beyond Russia.

India and China are Russia's top oil customers. Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping pictured in June 2019.

Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images

• The latest US sanctions on Russia's energy sector impact China and India, altering trade dynamics.
• The sanctions target Russian oil giants and tankers, raising oil prices to a four-month high.
• China and India may seek oil from other regions, while Russia might offer discounts.

The US' latest move to hit Russia's energy revenues is changing up the industry's global trade flows.

On Friday, the US Treasury Department— together with the UK — slapped new sanctions against Russia's key energy sector, including restrictions against oil giants Gazprom Neft and Surgutneftegas.

The Biden administration also imposed sanctions on 183 tankers associated with Russia's oil trade. Last year, that group of ships transported about one-quarter of Russia's energy exports, mostly crude oil, Goldman Sachs analysts estimated in a Sunday note.

Buyers from China and India — Russia's top oil customers — are likely to be impacted by the new sanctions, changing the world's energy trade dynamics.

Traders in China and India look to the Middle East, Americas

China will be impacted by the latest sanctions because most targeted tankers ship oil to the country, wrote Matthew Wright, the lead freight analyst at analytics firm Kpler, on Friday.

The sanctions, which would impact oil shipping, trading, and insurance, sent prices of the commodity up to a four-month high on Monday.

International benchmark Brent crude oil futures were 1.7% higher at $81.15 a barrel at 2.10 a.m. ET. The US benchmark West Texas Intermediate futures were up 1.9% at $78 a barrel.

Both Brent and WTI oil futures are up 8% this year to date.

Traders told Reuters that China and India will be forced by the new sanctions to seek non-sanctioned oil from the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas.

A Singapore-based trader told the news agency the sanctioned tankers shipped close to 900,000 barrels per day of Russian crude oil to China over the past 12 months and that these exports are going to "drop off a cliff."

Even before this round of sanctions, oil traders in China and India have been anticipating higher curbs on Russian oil. They have increased crude oil purchases from the Middle East and the Atlantic Basin, Bloomberg reported on Friday.

These latest developments illustrate the fast-changing pace of the world's energy flow since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 triggered sweeping sanctions against the energy giant.

They also come just days before US President-elect Donald Trump takes office. The incoming American leader has pledged to lift energy output and boost the US' energy exports.

Russia is a top supplier of crude oil to both China and India.

Not a 'game-changer'

The incoming US administration's stance on the energy sector is one reason why recent oil price gains may not continue, wrote Vishnu Varathan, Mizuho's head of macro research for Asia, excluding Japan.

Varathan said in a Monday note that while the latest oil sanctions against Russia are boosting the market, they are not a game-changer.

Not only is the potential of higher US supply expected to hold up the market, but demand from China — the world's second-largest economy — has also slowed amid prolonged economic malaise.

Goldman Sachs analysts also cited the high spare capacity in oil as a factor that could weigh on prices.

Meanwhile, Russia is likely to pull out countermeasures to the US' latest sanctions package.

"Russian oil can discount to incentivize continued shipping by a dynamic shadow fleet and continued purchases by price-sensitive buyers in new or existing destination countries, with both the ships and buyers being less sensitive to Western sanctions," Goldman Sachs analysts wrote.

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A New Yorker who feared rising costs would hurt his retirement moved to Nepal. He said life is much cheaper and more relaxing.

Albert Greenwood and his wife moved to Nepal in 2023.

Albert Greenwood

• Albert Greenwood and his wife moved to Nepal for a more affordable retirement in 2023.
• He feared high US retirement costs and wanted to be near his wife's family.
• Nepal offers lower living costs, robust healthcare, and a supportive community.

Albert Greenwood, 56, worked high-paying jobs throughout his career but feared rising costs would make his retirement in the US less than optimal.

Like many Americans seeking a cheaper place to retire, Greenwood decided to look abroad. However, he moved to a country with fewer expats than many of its neighbors: Nepal.

His wife grew up in Kathmandu, and they decided to move closer to her family and for their money to go farther. Between his savings and retirement income, Greenwood said life since moving in 2023 has been less stressful and more enjoyable. Still, he said he isn't sure his retirement abroad would have been so smooth if he didn't have a prior connection to the country.

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"We live nicely in a way that I would have to have much more to live like this in the US," Greenwood said. "But I know not everybody has success with these moves. If you have a big family, you miss them, and maybe that's going to be a problem."

Greenwood is one of dozens of Americans who spoke to Business Insider about retiring abroad, fearing retirement costs in the US. Many Americans aren't fully prepared for retirement, and many who have retired say their savings are often not enough.

Retirement fears in the US

Greenwood was raised in Philadelphia and spent his college years in upstate New York and Boston. He secured his MBA and worked in a variety of brand management and business development roles, earning six figures a few years into his career. He then became head of sales for a manufacturer of Asian-inspired foods in the New York City area. Ten years ago, he married his wife, a flight attendant turned hair colorist.

He retired at 55 after living beneath his means and getting a small portion of his company's sale to a private equity firm. Greenwood knew he could retire "comfortably enough" in the US, but he worried about rising healthcare costs even with company health insurance as one of his retirement benefits, which he said wasn't the greatest. He also grew tired of the grind, New York's winters, and the country's polarized political climate.

He and his wife, 39, wanted to have a child through IVF, but costs were estimated at $60,000. Rising housing costs also pressured him to consider other options; he paid $3,500 a month "for a box" in Westchester County, north of New York City.

"Between rent and everything else, how much are you able to save even on a good salary?" Greenwood said, adding he found New York's social climate increasingly aggressive. "I may have been able to fly by in retirement, but at what level?"

Albert Greenwood's rental home is about $1,150 monthly.

Albert Greenwood

He and his wife, born in Kathmandu, hoped to move to Nepal after his retirement, and after a few years of financial planning, they moved on May 1, 2023. Greenwood had sold his co-op a year before moving and tried to tie up loose ends well in advance — including figuring out how to transport his cats to Nepal.

"The process has been a lot better than I thought it would be, but you've got to prepare and really try to think of everything," Greenwood said, noting that he used a VPN to get everything set up, including bank accounts for wiring money. "It makes it easier when all your credit and debit cards work."

Retiring in Nepal with a lower cost of living

They briefly stayed at a rental place near the king's palace while finalizing his long-term visa, which he got through his wife. They found a four-bedroom home with a garden in one of the city's wealthier districts for about $1,150 monthly. Greenwood said the land is expensive — the home he rents he estimates could sell for $850,000 — but rents are surprisingly low.

Compared to what he paid in the US, he said food costs are about half, while medications are often a third of the cost. He and his wife spend $35 monthly on electricity, which he said has been consistent except during rough storms. His cellphone plan is about $7 monthly, and he pays $22 every six months for garbage disposal.

Greenwood earns about $3,000 monthly from investments and has an IRA he can access once he turns 59 and a half.

He said he's embraced travel in his retirement, including to Thailand, Japan, and Singapore. He's adopted routines including long walks, writing, and community engagement.

A stupa in Kathmandu.

Albert Greenwood

Greenwood said Nepal is cheaper and safer for raising children than the US. He said IVF treatment costs about $3,000, and child healthcare is robust in Kathmandu. His wife has many family members nearby who could help care for their child and have guided them on living comfortably.

Healthcare costs are also much lower, and he said the quality of care he receives has been high and specialized, though he acknowledged some of the public hospitals are hit or miss.

Greenwood noted that Kathmandu's infrastructure is more robust than most of the country. Hundreds died in earthquakes and flooding across the country in 2024, including over 300 deaths during monsoon season.

Still, he said the roads in the capital are mostly safe, and many buildings are robust enough to survive most natural disasters. Temperatures rarely drop below 40 degrees Fahrenheit and are frequently in the 80s during the spring and summer, though there is often smog in the winter months.

Growing accustomed to life in Kathmandu

He said that he's found many Kathmandu residents very tolerant of different religious and personal beliefs, adding that many Bangladeshi residents have recently moved to the city. Greenwood said Nepal has many festivals and public holidays that unite the community. He added that life is slower and more relaxed in Nepal than in the US.

"Things take longer here, but that being said, if I have a problem with my door or the shower isn't working, the repair guy is here in 20 minutes," Greenwood said.

He's found that nearly everyone speaks English in his part of Kathmandu, though he's studying Nepali to better communicate with locals. He said his two nephews learned English as their first language. While he said many value education in Kathmandu, there is a lack of job opportunities for younger people.

Greenwood said he's worked with a lawyer to extend his visa for the immediate future. He believes Nepal's healthcare infrastructure will fit his long-term needs.

"The setup matters a lot. I was set up with my wife, who was raised here with a big family, and they're very much together, which has really helped me," Greenwood said. "But I imagine if I couldn't speak Nepali, it would be very difficult for me to really handle it."

We want to hear from you. Are you an older American who has moved to a new country or state due to retirement fears? Please fill out this quick form or email this reporter at nsheidlower@businessinsider.com.

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