Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman has some blunt advice for his employees who may despise the company’s new return-to-office mandate.
After Amazon (AMZN) announced last month that starting on Jan. 2, 2025 it will be requiring employees to return to working in the office five days a week, many workers expressed outrage over the new policy, with some even threatening to quit their jobs.
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During an internal meeting this week, Garman allegedly gave a thumbs up to staff members to make that drastic decision if they have an issue with the company’s new mandate, according to leaked audio, which was obtained by Business Insider.
Related: Amazon’s new return-to-office mandate is starting to backfire
"When we want to innovate, when we want to really, really innovate on interesting products, I have not seen an ability for us to do that when we're not in-person," Garman said during the meeting. "And so if there are people who just don't work well in that environment and don't want to, that's OK. There are other companies around."
Garman also claimed that he didn’t “mean that in a bad way,” but it is important for Amazon’s staff to be in an “environment” where they are “working together.”
The CEO also said that nine out of 10 Amazon employees told him they were “excited” about the new mandate and that there were days when his staff "didn't really accomplish anything" due to remote work.
His comments come after a recent anonymous survey from Blind, a job review site, revealed that about 91% of the 2,585 Amazon employees it polled said they are unhappy with Amazon requiring them to work from the office five days a week. Also, 73% of employees said that they are considering searching for another job due to the new policy.
In addition, 32% claimed they knew someone who had already quit their job at Amazon in response to the mandate.
AWS did not immediately respond to TheStreet's request for comment.
Before the new mandate was announced, Amazon employees were only required to come into the office at least three days a week.
More Labor:
- Microsoft exec sends stern warning to staff about return to office
- Amazon’s new return-to-office mandate is starting to backfire
- Boeing delivers hard-nosed message to employees amid strike
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy claimed in a memo that the decision to go back to five days a week in office comes after the company observed over the past five years that the “advantages of being together in the office are significant.”
Related: Amazon confirms fears about future of remote work with latest move
“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,” said Jassy in the memo.
U.S. employees are avoiding return-to-office mandates
Many employees across the country are seeking flexibility in where they work and have shown resistance to RTO mandates.
According to a recent survey from ResumeBuilder.com, 1 in 5 U.S. workers have ignored their company’s RTO policy. The survey also found that most workers want to be in the office three days a week or less.
Also, 68% said that their productivity would increase if they had the freedom to choose on their own how many days they work from the office.
“For many employees, remote work has become a non-negotiable part of their professional lives. As companies attempt to reinstate in-office requirements, there has been pushback from workers. Employers should know job seekers today still have options if they are looking to work remotely,” said Resume Builder’s Chief Career Advisor Stacie Haller in the report.
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