Amazon Web Services CEO Tells Employees To Quit If They Don't Want To Return To Office — 'There Are Other Companies Out There'
Amazon doesn't want to employ anyone who isn't happy to collaborate with their co-workers in an office.
Cineberg | Shutterstock The CEO of Amazon's Web Service has received a bit of backlash following the message he shared with employees who weren't happy about the return-to-office mandate.
Matt Garman didn't offer much sympathy to employees who were upset about the company's return-to-office policy after previously being allowed to work remotely. In fact, he pretty much told them if they didn't like it, they could work somewhere else.
Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman told employees to quit if they didn't want to return to the office.
The head of the tech company’s cloud computing business said during an internal meeting that if employees did not support the change they could look for a job elsewhere, according to a transcript reviewed by Reuters.
Garman claimed that nine out of 10 workers he had spoken to supported the policy, which will be in effect for all office-based staff starting January 2 and forbidding anyone from opting out of it for any reason.
Garman indicated that anyone unhappy with the return-to-office mandate should just leave. "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. By the way, I don't mean that in a bad way," he said, adding, "We want to be in an environment where we're working together."
Garman's comments came after Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced that employees would be required to switch from the three-day-in-office schedule to five days per week.
Before Jassy's announcement, employees had returned to the office three days a week, which strengthened the company quite a bit, he explained. He added that the company plans to bring back "assigned desk arrangements in locations that were previously organized that way."
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"It’s easier for our teammates to learn, model, practice, and strengthen our culture," Jassy said.
"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."
Amazon employees have already started to quit after the RTO mandate was announced.
Ninety-one percent of Amazon employees surveyed by the anonymous social media app Blind said they did not support the company’s decision to return to the office full-time. Blind surveyed 2,585 verified Amazon workers the day after the company’s announcement.
Of those surveyed, 73% said they are looking for a new job because of the new policy. The social media site also reported that 80% of those surveyed said they know someone who is considering looking for another job because of the in-office policy.
In fact, it isn't just Amazon employees who feel this strongly about return-to-work mandates.
Gallup's study of the U.S. workplace found that of the 125 million full-time workers in the United States, 50% — more than 60 million office workers — admitted that they can do their jobs from home.
Of those 60 million, a whopping 90% report not wanting to be required to work in the office five days a week.
Amazon already faces heavy scrutiny and backlash for the way they treat their employees, from exposing their workers to high-risk situations in the warehouse to pay inequality.
For an Amazon CEO to address the complaints of the RTO mandate by claiming unhappy employees should just quit and find other jobs is tone-deaf, especially in an economy where inflation has made saving for retirement impossible and most families are struggling to afford childcare while working full-time.
Workers shouldn't have to find another job every time they disagree with a policy. This is both unrealistic and unsustainable, and Amazon should consider their employees' concerns, especially if a majority of them have a problem.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.