Amazon employees are slamming the company’s return-to-office policy and plotting their exit less than 24 hours after CEO Andy Jassy announced that they must return to the office five days a week from January.
While some Amazon workers are ripping into the company’s toughened RTO policy on social media, others are even blasting their employer in the company’s internal Slack channel.
"Please do note that this is (in a lot of cases) significantly more strict and out of its mind than many teams operated under pre-COVID,” one staffer wrote on Slack, according to Business Insider.
“This is not 'going back' to how it was before. It's just going backwards."
Another employee suggested they’d rather be put on the company’s aggressive performance improvement plan than comply with the mandate: "Can I negotiate my manager to PIP me… Take my money and leave?"
Employees aren’t just talking about quitting, a small few have already changed their status on LinkedIn to #opentowork as they openly search for more flexible jobs.
“Amazon has announced 5 day RTO, which is unfortunate because I’m interested in working for a living, not live-action role playing and virtue signaling,” an Amazon Web Services engineer posted on the networking platform.
“If you have remote opportunities available, please message me. Nothing is off the table. I’d rather go back to school than work in an office again.”
A commentator on Reddit who claims to have worked at Amazon for three years said that they’re mentally checking out of their current role while they hunt for another.
“Probably going to soft quit and get a new job. F—k Jassy,” the user wrote, describing the measure as a “swift kick to the nuts.”
Amazon’s latest RTO mandate
Amazon veteran, Jassy—who took the helm after Jeff Bezos stepped down in 2021—issued a memo to all staffers yesterday that said they will be required to work in the office “the way we were before the onset of COVID.”
“Before the pandemic, it was not a given that folks could work remotely two days a week, and that will also be true moving forward—our expectation is that people will be in the office outside of extenuating circumstances,” Jassy, who started working at the $1.94 trillion tech giant in 1997, wrote.
Of course, many people moved to the suburbs and made childcare arrangements according to the company’s current 3 day in-office policy—or as Jassy puts it “set up their personal lives in such a way that returning to the office consistently five days per week will require some adjustments.”
That’s why the 56-year-old said that the new stricter enforcement will not kick in until the new year to “help ensure a smooth transition.”
The CEO added that moving forward remote working will be reserved for emergency scenarios like “if you or your child” is sick.
'What better way to cut jobs’
Jassy positioned the changes at Amazon—which also include a flattened hierarchy and no more hot desking—as a better way to work.
"We've observed that it's easier for our teammates to learn, model, practice, and strengthen our culture; collaborating, brainstorming, and inventing are simpler and more effective; teaching and learning from one another are more seamless; and, teams tend to be better connected to one another," Jassy insisted.
Read more: Stop romanticizing in-office watercooler talk. As a fully distributed company of 12,000 people, here’s what really works
However, some disgruntled proffesionals have suggested that the new policy is designed to reduce its current 1.5 million-plus headcount.
“This is a layoff in disguise,” one user complained on Reddit. “Return to the office or you’re fired and we don’t have to pay any severance or unemployment.”
“What better way to cut jobs than to force everyone back into the office and watch people quit in droves,” another wrote.
Amazon didn’t respond to Fortune’s request for comment, including whether the policy is a thinly veiled headcount reduction.
However, the company has previously used its in-office mandate to cut out defiant workers.
Earlier this year, Amazon managers were given the green light to fire employees who fail to show face three days a week in the office.
Meanwhile the company’s "return-to-hub" mandate in July forced remote workers to pick working (and in some cases relocating) to the closest office to them—or resign.
Are you an Amazon employee who’s planning to quit because of the new RTO policy? Fortune wants to hear from you. Email orianna.royle@fortune.com
