Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has defended the company’s recently announced full-time return to office (RTO) mandate as “strengthening” its “culture” while stating it doesn’t represent a “backdoor layoff”.
Initially reported by Reuters and CNBC, which had each seen a transcript of an all-hands staff meeting, Jassy stressed that Amazon’s controversial decision to return to full-time in-office work was not designed to force voluntary redundancies or because of agreements with city leaders, as had been speculated by employees.
Jassy is reported as saying:
A number of people I’ve seen theorised that the reason we were doing this is, it’s a backdoor layoff, or we made some sort of deal with city or cities. I can tell you both of those are not true. You know, this was not a cost play for us. This is very much about our culture and strengthening our culture.”
Amazon’s policy, initially announced in September, is scheduled to be introduced at the beginning of next year. Amazon’s previous RTO mandate, requiring employees to work in the office three days a week, was announced in February 2023 and implemented in May of the same year. In a letter to employees posted on the company’s website, Jassy suggested that the experience of a three-day in-office mandate had “strengthened our conviction about the benefits” of working in the office.
Employees who fail to adhere to Amazon’s policies have been told that they will be considered to have “voluntarily resigned” and will subsequently be denied access to company computer systems.
“It is an adjustment,” Jassy reportedly added during the all-hands call. “I understand that for a lot of people, and we’re going to be working through that adjustment together.”
An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment to Reuters.
The Full Amazon RTO Story
Following the announcement, an anonymous survey was conducted on an Amazon Slack channel with over 30,000 employees. Within a few days, the survey revealed an average satisfaction rating of 1.4 for the RTO mandate, indicating significant dissatisfaction, with one representing “strongly dissatisfied” and five representing “strongly satisfied.”
Meanwhile, Blind, a forum for verified tech workers, surveyed 2,500 Amazon employees. The results showed that 91 percent of respondents were unhappy with the new RTO mandate, and nearly three-fourths (73 percent) were considering seeking employment elsewhere.
Last month, Matt Garman, the CEO of Amazon Web Services, suggested that employees unwilling to comply with the complete in-office requirement could seek employment elsewhere. He stated that “there are other companies around” for workers who don’t want to work in the office five days per week. Garman said that nine out of ten employees he had spoken with were in favour of the change.
This statement led to over 500 Amazon employees signing a letter urging Garman to reconsider the policy. The letter highlighted that the company had functioned effectively with a fully remote workforce and expressed concerns that the new rule would disproportionately affect employees with families or medical challenges.
The letter said: “We were appalled to hear the non-data-driven explanation you gave for Amazon imposing a five-day in-office mandate.”
In response to the letter, Amazon stated that it is offering commuter benefits and subsidised parking rates, among other measures, to support its return-to-office policy.
Perhaps eyeing a PR open goal amidst Amazon’s (and Dell’s) five-day in-office announcements, Microsoft and Google have since both affirmed their long-term commitment to hybrid working policies as long as workers maintain their productivity levels.
