AWS CEO tells staff ‘there are other companies around’ if they don’t like the return-to-office mandate

An Amazon executive has defended a controversial move to bring staff back into the office full time, saying they can leave if they don’t like the change.

A top Amazon executive has suggested to staff that they can find a new job if they disagree with the company’s move to bring workers back into the office five days a week.

Speaking at an all-hands meeting last week, Amazon Web Services (AWS) CEO Matt Garman claimed that nine out of 10 employees he had spoken with were in support of the new return to office mandates.

He then suggested that those who aren’t on board with the change, which is set to kick in from January 2025, could look for other work, according to a transcript seen by Reuters.

“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,” Mr Garman said.

Matt Garman, CEO of Amazon Web Services. Picture: Frederic J. Brown/AFP

He added he didn’t “mean that in a bad way” and they wanted to create an environment where “we’re working together”.

“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,” he said.

AWS is a subsidiary of Amazon that provides on-demand cloud computing platforms and APIs.

The company also offers remote work solutions to clients as part of its services, which provide “secure access to the virtual desktops and streamed applications that workers need to get their jobs done”.

The AWS website states that with Amazon WorkSpaces services “workers can be productive from any supported device”.

Employees at AWS were told ‘there are other companies around’ if they disagree with Amazon’s return-to-office mandate. Picture: Julien de Rosa/AFP

In September, Amazon announced the end of its working from home policy, with CEO Andy Jassy telling all corporate staff they would need to be back into the office permanently from the start of next year.

He said Amazon leadership had “decided that we’re going to return to being in the office the way we were before the onset of Covid”, but stressed that there would still be some flexibility.

“Before the pandemic, not everybody was in the office five days a week, every week,” Mr Jassy wrote.

“If you or your child were sick, if you had some sort of house emergency, if you were on the road seeing customers or partners, if you needed a day or two to finish coding in a more isolated environment, people worked remotely.

“This was understood, and will be moving forward as well.”

He continued to say it was expected staff would be in the office “outside of extenuating circumstances”, like those he mentioned above.

“We understand that some of our teammates may have set up their personal lives in such a way that returning to the office consistently five days per week will require some adjustments,” Mr Jassy wrote.

“To help ensure a smooth transition, we’re going to make this new expectation active on January 2, 2025.”

There has been a major increase in companies ordering employees back into the office.

In a memo issued to staff on September 26, Dell gave employees four days’ notice before they were required to return to the office five days a week, with the change kicking in on September 30.

Similarly, Flight Centre staff have been ordered back to their office or shops five days a week, except when travelling.

A memo shared earlier this month to Australian staff pointed to a video with the Brisbane-based chief people and culture officer, who claimed “a key part of our culture is the ability to form connections together in person”.

It follows a similar directive from Australian betting giant, Tabcorp, with the company ordering staff back into the office five-days a week just days after Amazon’s announcement.

Tabcorp’s leadership executive team broke the news in a memo to staff last month, with the change effective immediately.

“What this means is that all office-based team members should work in the office, with their team, every day of their working week,” the memo stated.

“This is a really important step change – we are resetting Tabcorp. Having us together as a team, focused and driving towards our goals will deliver outcomes and success.

“Being connected as a team also drives a winning culture and supports us to collaborate and achieve our best.”

Originally published as AWS CEO tells staff ‘there are other companies around’ if they don’t like the return-to-office mandate