A five-day office mandate is not a “backdoor layoff”

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy dismissed speculation that the company's five-day mandate was intended to further reduce headcount or appease city officials.

“A number of people I've seen theorize that the reason we did this is a backdoor layoff or that we made a deal with the city or cities and that's why we have “made sure people came back and were together more often,” Jassy said Tuesday at an all-hands meeting, according to remarks obtained by CNBC. “I can tell you that neither is true.”

Amazon announced the new mandate in September. The company's previous stance on returning to work required the company's employees to be in the office at least three days per week. Employees have until January 2nd to comply with the new policy.

The mandate has sparked backlash from some Amazon employees, who say they are just as productive from home or in a hybrid work environment as they are in the office. Others said the mandate was consistent with Jassy's ongoing cost-cutting efforts, suggesting it was a means of forced turnover. Amazon has laid off more than 27,000 employees since the beginning of 2022.

An Amazon spokesperson referred to Jassy's memo announcing the five-day mandate.

The company offers a variety of benefits and services for employee commutes, which vary by location but also include free shuttles, subsidized parking, reimbursed public transportation, subsidized ridesharing and bike-related costs, an Amazon spokesperson told CNBC.

Jassy's comments on Tuesday were previously reported by Reuters.

“This was not a cost game for us,” Jassy said at the meeting, which coincided with Election Day. “This is all about our culture and strengthening our culture.”

In announcing the mandate, Jassy said a return to the full-time office would allow Amazon to be “better positioned to invent, collaborate and be sufficiently connected to each other and to our culture to deliver to customers and customers.” to deliver the absolute best business.”

Amazon's cloud chief Matt Garman also defended the decision last month, saying employees who disagree with the company's new policy can leave the company, CNBC previously reported. Garman also said he has spoken to employees about the mandate and “nine out of 10 people are actually pretty excited about this change.”

Garman's comments further angered Amazon employees.

About 500 employees who work for Amazon's cloud computing business, Amazon Web Services, wrote a letter to Garman last week criticizing his comments and questioning the merits of a five-day mandate, according to a letter seen by CNBC Copy of the letter is provided.

“We urge you to reconsider your comments and position on the proposed five-day mandate,” the letter said. “Remote and flexible working is an opportunity for Amazon to lead, not a threat. We want to work for a company and for leaders who recognize and use this moment to challenge us to reinvent the way we work.”

The letter included anecdotes from AWS employees detailing how the five-day mandate at the office will impact their “lives and work.” One employee said he was denied disability accommodation and asked to return to the office, and another employee said he was recently told to use paid time off to care for a sick family member rather than from home to be able to work from. Another employee said the RTO mandate would require them to be in an office “more than 200 miles from my home.”

At least 37,000 employees have joined an internal Slack channel created last year to advocate for remote work and share grievances about the return-to-work mandate, CNBC previously reported. Previously, employees rejected the three-day office term, and some staged a walkout at Amazon's headquarters in Seattle to express their dissatisfaction.

Jassy acknowledged Tuesday that the five-day term in the office will be an adjustment for employees.

“I understand that for a lot of people and we will work through this adjustment together,” he said.

REGARD: AWS CEO says employees unhappy with five-day office duties can leave