AWS CEO Matt Garman has sent a stern message to employees disgruntled by the company’s five-day in-office mandate.
During an all-hands meeting at Amazon’s base in Virginia, Garman showed the exit door to all staffers who stood against the policy.
According to the meeting transcript, verified by CNBC, the CEO said:
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.
"At Amazon, we want to be in an environment where we are working together, and we feel that [a] collaborative environment is incredibly important for our innovation and for our culture."
Amazon’s mandate received backlash from employees when released last month. Indeed, Fortune reported that 73 percent considered quitting in response.
Meanwhile, many protested online that they’re just as productive at home as in the office and noted how the mandate will hinder their ability to care for their families.
All this highlights the massive morale hit Amazon has taken, which Garman’s comments are unlikely to have helped.
Worse still, the policy doesn’t come into effect until January 2, 2025, which perhaps offers time for resentment to build and recruiters to poach from its talent pool.
Yet, the company must have known that the announcement would never go down well. After all, approximately 37,000 employees reportedly joined an internal Slack channel last year to advocate for remote work and share objections to the previous three-day in-office policy.
Nevertheless, Garman remained defiant, telling everyone at the meeting that "nine out of ten people are actually quite excited by this change."
He also notes that there will be individual cases where some employees may have a little more flexibility in their schedules.
For instance, if an employee has their manager’s approval to work from home and make the most of the quiet environment, they can do so.
