Andy Jassy denies the 5-day RTO plan is a “backdoor layoff.”

Jassy announced the company's strict return-to-office commitment in a September memo, sparking immediate outrage among employees, some of whom had been working remotely at least two days a week since May 2023.

Some experts have theorized that Jassy's RTO plan could be a sneaky way to reduce the company's headcount rather than go through the formal process of implementing layoffs. Still, in a full board meeting Tuesday, Jassy dismissed claims that the RTO plan was a “backdoor layoff” or that the company had reached an agreement with city leaders.

“I can tell you that neither is true. You know, it wasn't a cost game for us. “This is all about our culture and strengthening our culture,” he said, according to a transcript reported Reuters.

Following the RTO announcement in September, 73% of employees surveyed by anonymous job review site Blind said they had considered quitting given the new policy. Other employees quickly moved to LinkedIn and changed their status to #opentowork in hopes of finding a more flexible role. But at the company's Amazon Web Services division, CEO Matt Garman was clear that the naysayers could go elsewhere.

“If there are people who just don't work well in this environment and don't want to do that, that's fine, there are other companies around,” Garman said on an internal call last month, citing the RTO's policy corporate. Reuters reported.

To highlight their frustration with the RTO policy, hundreds of AWS employees signed a letter protesting the change last month, calling it a “total abdication” of AWS' role as an innovator and industry leader.

Of course, Amazon has offered its employees commuter benefits and subsidized parking, among other perks, to help ease the transition.

In the September memo, Jassy said it was easier for employees to learn and collaborate on site. When I reached out for comment, an Amazon spokesperson said Assets The RTO plan is designed to strengthen company culture and ensure teams are connected.

The RTO memo urged workers to “return to the state we were in before the COVID outbreak” and banned working from home except in exceptional circumstances. Jassy noted in the memo that intensive programming work or a sick child are appropriate times to work from home with supervisor approval.

While managers were given permission earlier this year to fire employees who didn't adhere to the previous three-day work schedule, many still made changes to their lives because of Amazon's flexibility.

At Tuesday's plenary meeting, Jasssy acknowledged that the five-day RTO policy, which comes into force in January, will take some getting used to.

“It’s an adjustment. I understand that for a lot of people and we will work through this adjustment together,” Jassy said.

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