“Amazon Cloud Boss Tells Employees Opposed to 5-Day Office Mandate They Can Leave”

Amazon Web Services (AWS) CEO Matt Garman delivered a candid message to employees during an all-hands meeting at Amazon’s second headquarters in Arlington, Virginia. Addressing concerns about the company’s recently announced five-day in-office mandate, Garman stated that employees uncomfortable with the policy are welcome to seek opportunities elsewhere.

The new office policy requires corporate workers to be in the office five days a week starting January 2, 2025. This change comes as Amazon looks to strengthen collaboration, innovation, and its internal culture, citing its competition with tech giants like Microsoft, Google, and OpenAI in the race to develop generative AI technology.

Garman mentioned that while some employees expressed dissatisfaction with the mandate, he found that most employees support the shift, though there is still some flexibility with managers’ approval for occasional work-from-home days.

He emphasized the importance of preserving Amazon’s “leadership principles” and the need for in-office collaboration to foster debate, particularly through the company’s value of “disagree and commit,” which is reportedly more difficult to execute over Amazon’s videoconferencing tool, Chime.

This directive has stirred pushback from employees who argue that remote work arrangements are equally productive and better suited for families and caregivers. An internal Slack channel advocating for remote work has gathered over 37,000 employees.

Amazon aims to leave behind its pandemic-era policies to better align with its corporate objectives, including its ongoing focus on AI innovation.