Amazon employees are reminded that they can find work elsewhere if they are unhappy with Amazon's return-to-office (RTO) mandate.
In September, Amazon told employees they would have to RTO five days a week starting in 2025. Amazon employees are currently allowed to work remotely twice a week. A memo from CEO Andy Jassy announcing the policy change said that “it is easier for our teammates to learn, model, practice and reinforce our culture” when working in the office.
On Thursday, during what Reuters described as an “all-hands meeting” for Amazon Web Services (AWS), AWS CEO Matt Garman reportedly told employees:
If there are people who just don't work well in that environment and don't want to, that's no problem, there are other companies around.
However, Garman said he didn't “mean that in a bad way,” adding, “We want to be in a collaborative environment.” If we really want to innovate on interesting products, I didn't do that. I've seen that we can do that when we're not in person.”
Interestingly, Garman's comments about dissatisfaction with RTO policies coincided with his claim that 9 out of 10 Amazon workers he spoke to support the RTO mandate, Reuters reported.
Some suspect that RTO mandates are attempts to get employees to quit
Amazon has faced resistance to RTO since pandemic restrictions were lifted. Like employees at other companies, some Amazon workers have publicly questioned whether strict office policies are being implemented in an effort to reduce workforces without layoffs.
In July 2023, Amazon began requiring employees to work at their team's central hub location (rather than remotely or in an office that may be closer to their home). Amazon reportedly told employees that if they didn't follow the rules or find new jobs internally, they would be considered a “voluntary layoff,” according to a Slack message that Business Insider reportedly viewed. And many Amazon workers have already reported that they are considering looking for a new job due to the impending RTO requirements.
However, employers like Amazon could face a range of legal consequences if they encourage employees to quit through their RTO policies, according to Helen D. (Heidi) Reavis, managing partner at Reavis Page Jump LLP, an employment law firm , dispute resolution and media. , told Ars Technica:
