CEO of the Amazon Group to employees who are protesting the end of WFH

Over 500 Amazon Web Services (AWS) employees have asked the company to reconsider its new five-day office mandate, set to begin in January. In a letter to AWS CEO Matt Garman, 523 employees spoke out against the “Return to Office” policy and called on management to maintain remote work flexibility.

“AWS is failing to achieve its full potential with this order and is pursuing a discouraging path forward,” the letter said The Seattle Times specified. “While flexible and remote working has its challenges, AWS has always been a company that approaches problems in innovative, forward-thinking ways rather than relying on outdated solutions that worked in the past. The cloud computing industry may no longer exist today. We had clung to such restrictive thinking in our early days.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy previously announced in a memo that the policy would take effect on January 2, 2025. Before this change, Amazon required employees to be in the office three days a week, which also sparked protests. About 15 months after that initial mandate, Amazon is now expanding the requirement to restore pre-pandemic labor standards.

The recent letter from AWS employees is a response to Garman's comments at an AWS town hall in which he suggested that employees who don't want to adhere to the new five-day rule could explore other employment options. Last week, Garman reiterated that stance in an interview, expressing confidence in the policy and saying that most employees he spoke with supported the change. Garman and Jassy acknowledged that while the new policy offers flexibility, such as allowing managers to occasionally work from home for certain tasks, the core requirement remains.

AWS employees argued in the letter that Garman's comments were inconsistent with their own experiences, claiming, “They silence critical perspectives and harm our culture and future.” They also contended that Amazon's decision lacks a data-driven approach They said the policy lacked analysis, contradicting one of Amazon's core principles, and noted that the policy could hinder Amazon's goal of becoming “the best employer in the world.”

The mandate is expected to particularly affect workers who require remote working flexibility, such as those with disabilities, caring responsibilities or visa restrictions. Employees also suggested that the mandate could lead to senior employees, who often have the necessary skills and financial flexibility, seeking other roles outside of Amazon, potentially impacting the collaborative culture that the company has would like to promote.

The new policy makes Amazon one of the few major tech companies in Seattle with such strict office work requirements. Starbucks recently adopted a similar approach, requiring employees to work in the office three days a week starting in January, although failure to comply could result in possible job changes.

In their letter, AWS employees reiterated their desire for Amazon to reconsider its stance, emphasizing: “Remote and flexible working represents an opportunity for Amazon to lead, not a threat. We want to work for leaders who see this moment as an opportunity to reinvent how we work.”

Meanwhile, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy said at a full board meeting Tuesday that the plan to require employees to be in the office five days a week was not intended to force turnover or satisfy city leaders, as many employees suggested have, Reuters reported.

“A number of people I've spoken to have theorized that the reason we did this is because it was a backdoor layoff or because we had some sort of agreement with one or more cities “We met,” Jassy said, according to a transcript of the meeting reviewed by Reuters.

“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.