Amazon AWS CEO: Quit if you don't want to return to office
By Greg Bensinger
Oct 17 (Reuters) -One of Amazon's AMZN.O top executives defended the new, controversial 5-day-per-week in-office policy on Thursday, saying those who don't support it can leave for another company.
Speaking at an all-hands meeting for AWS, unit CEO Matt Garman said nine out of 10 workers he has spoken with support the new policy, which takes effect in January, according to a transcript reviewed by Reuters.
Those who do not wish to comply can quit, he indicated.
"If there are people who just don't work well in that environment and don't want to, that's okay, there are other companies around," said Garman. "When we want to really, really innovate on interesting products, I have not seen an ability for us to do that when we're not in-person."
The policy has upset many of Amazon's employees who say it wastes time with commuting and the benefits of working from the office are not supported by independent data.
Amazon has been enforcing a three-day in-office policy, but CEO Andy Jassy said last month the retailer would move to five days to "invent, collaborate and be connected."
Some employees who had not been previously compliant were told they were "voluntarily resigning" and were locked out of company systems.
Amazon, the world's second-largest private employer behind Walmart, has taken a harder line on returning to office than many of its technology peers such as Google, Meta and Microsoft who have two- to three-day in-office policies.
"I'm actually quite excited about this change," said Garman. "I know not everyone is," he said, noting it's too hard to accomplish the company's goals with only the mandatory current three days of in-office work.
An Amazon spokesperson said she didn't have an immediate comment.
Reporting by Greg Bensinger; Editing by Sandra Maler
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
