Amazon CEO Andy Jassy on making 5-day working from office compulsory: It’s about Culture, not …

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy denied accusations that the company’s new five-day office mandate is a covert attempt to reduce staff, amid growing employee resistance to the stricter return-to-office policy.
“A number of people I’ve seen theorise that the reason we were doing this is a backdoor layoff or we made some sort of deal with the city, or cities, and that’s why we were having people come back and be together more often,” Jassy said at an all-hands meeting Tuesday, according to remarks obtained by CNBC. “I can tell you both of those are not true.”
The mandate, announced in September, requires corporate employees to work from office five days per week starting January 2024, replacing the current three-day requirement. Employees who don’t comply will be considered “voluntarily resigning” and face computer system lockouts.
The policy has sparked widespread opposition within Amazon. Over 500 AWS employees recently penned a letter criticizing the mandate after cloud boss Matt Garman suggested dissatisfied workers could leave the company. At least 37,000 employees have joined an internal Slack channel advocating for remote work.
“This was not a cost play for us,” Jassy added at the meeting, which coincided with Election Day. “This is very much about our culture and strengthening our culture.”
Internal communications reveal significant concerns about the policy’s impact. One employee reported being required to return to an office “over 200 miles from my home,” while another said they were denied a disability accommodation. Some workers were told to use paid time off rather than work remotely when caring for sick family members.
Amazon maintains it will support the transition with various commuter benefits, including free shuttles, subsidized parking, and reimbursable public transit costs. The company spokesperson directed inquiries to Jassy’s original memo announcing the policy.
The stricter office attendance requirements come amid Amazon’s broader restructuring efforts, which have included over 27,000 layoffs since early 2022. Despite these challenges, Amazon recently reported a record $15.3 billion profit for its third quarter and expects a strong holiday season.