Amazon CEO Andy Jassy allegedly told remote employees who don’t want to comply with Amazon’s return-to-office policy that it’s “not going to work out for you”.
Insider reported that Jassy’s comments were made during a company call earlier this month, a recording of which the publication had obtained, and that he told employees who didn’t want to abide by the in-office three-days-a-week mandate that they could leave. He also explained the reasoning for the policy’s introduction as a “judgment call”.
Jassy reportedly said:
It’s past the time to disagree and commit(…) if you can’t disagree and commit, it’s probably not going to work out for you at Amazon because we are going back to the office at least three days a week(…) It’s not right for all of our teammates to be in three days a week and for people to refuse to do so.”
Amazon’s Remote Working Story So Far
Amazon’s return-to-office policy that employees must work in the office three days a week was announced in February and instituted in May.
The introduction of the policy galvanised hundreds of Amazon workers in Seattle to protest outside the business’s headquarters while thousands signed a petition opposing the mandate. Amazon had previously allowed team leaders to decide on return-to-office approaches.
At the time of the newly announced mandate in February, Jassy stated that Amazon’s decision to bring workers back was informed by considering what did and didn’t work during the pandemic. Jassy iterated that the senior leadership team noted how its staff performed and collaborated with other business leaders before concluding that employees tended to be more engaged in person.
In July, Amazon asked some corporate employees to relocate to different cities as part of its return-to-office mandate.
Additionally, Business Insider reported that leaked Amazon emails and messages suggested that if workers refuse to relocate to their new teams’ “hubs”, Amazon will grant them 60 days to find a new team in their current city or force them into “voluntary resignation”.
An Amazon Spokesperson, Brad Glasser, stated that worker relocations were taking place but wouldn’t specify the number of employees relocating and wouldn’t comment on suggestions that Amazon required some workers in smaller offices to relocate to central offices in larger cities.
Glasser added that Amazon would offer “relocation benefits” to workers asked to move and consider requests for exceptions on a case-by-case basis.
Amazon has cut 27,000 jobs over the past few months.
Tech Giants and Their Remote and Hybrid Policies
Most tech giants have transitioned to a hybrid working model following the pandemic, with three days in the office appearing to be the general norm for corporate employees in 2023.
Amazon’s three-day return-to-office policy is similar to several competitors, including Google’s, which started in April 2022. Appl also works three days a week in the office, a procedure mandated last September.
Earlier this month, Zoom introduced a mandate for staff to come to the office twice a week. The policy applies to staff who live “within a commutable distance” of the office, which Zoom specified as within 50 miles. Zoom’s previous policy had been flexible in that staff could work remotely, on-premises, or on a hybrid model of their selection.
Microsoft currently works where workers are expected to be on-premises for at least 50 percent of their workweek unless they have special permission.
However, Microsoft has been publicly oppositional to a full return-to-office in a broader sense. In May, a Microsoft executive urged workers to “actively fight back” against efforts by businesses to force them back to the office.
