Amazon CEO defends return-to-office policy amid employee backlash
06 Nov 2024

Amid employee criticism, Amazon's CEO Andy Jassy has defended the company's return-to-office policy.

The e-commerce giant had announced in September that employees would be required to work from the office five days a week starting January 2, 2025.

The decision, which marked an increase from the previous three-day-per-week requirement, sparked speculation about its underlying motives.

Jassy refutes claims of 'backdoor layoff'
Policy clarification

Jassy has denied claims that the new policy is a "backdoor layoff" or a ploy to weed out employees who can't or won't comply with the full return.

Speaking at an all-hands staff meeting, as seen by Reuters, he said, "A number of people I've seen theorized that the reason we were doing this is, it's a backdoor layoff, or we made some sort of deal with city or cities."

He said neither of those assumptions were correct.

Return-to-office policy not a cost-saving measure
Financial implications

Jassy stressed that the return-to-office policy was not introduced as a cost-saving measure.

"I can tell you both of those are not true. You know, this was not a cost play for us," he said during the meeting.

This comes even as Amazon has laid off over 27,000 workers since 2022.

Employee dissatisfaction and protest over the mandate
Staff reaction

Notably, the return-to-office mandate hasn't been well-received by many Amazon employees, with some even considering resignation.

In October, hundreds of employees signed a letter protesting remarks made by Matt Garman, head of Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Garman had suggested that those unwilling to comply with the five-day office attendance requirement could seek employment elsewhere.