Amazon's Top Executive Defends New In-Office Policy: 'If You Don't Like It, Leave'

Amazon's high-ranking official recently expressed support for the contentious decision to enforce a five-day in-office work policy, urging employees who oppose it to seek employment elsewhere. During an all-hands meeting with Amazon Web Services (AWS) Matt Garman asserted that the majority of employees he spoke with endorse the policy, set to be implemented in January. He emphasized that those unwilling to comply have the option to resign, stating, "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." Garman further argued that in-person collaboration is essential for innovation, asserting that he has not witnessed effective innovation when remote.

This policy, however, has stirred unrest among many Amazon employees, who contend that it imposes unnecessary commuting demands and lacks empirical support for the purported advantages of working in a physical office. Previously, Amazon had enforced a three-day in-office work arrangement; however, CEO Andy Jassy recently announced the transition to a five-day policy to foster "innovation, collaboration, and connectivity."

The shift has resulted in some employees who were non-compliant being labeled as "voluntarily resigning" and subsequently barred from accessing company systems. Amazon, being the second-largest private employer globally after Walmart, has adopted a more stringent approach towards returning to the office compared to other tech giants like Google, Meta, and Microsoft, which have implemented two- to three-day in-office work policies. Garman expressed excitement about the upcoming changes, acknowledging that not everyone shares his enthusiasm.

He noted that the current three-day in-office requirement was insufficient for achieving company objectives, stating, "we didn't really accomplish anything," and highlighted the difficulty of adhering to Amazon’s leadership principles under the existing policy. Garman emphasized the importance of experiencing these principles regularly rather than solely reading about them online. He specifically pointed out that the principle of "disagree and commit" was challenging to navigate in a remote setting, emphasizing the difficulties of expressing disagreement effectively through virtual communication.