At an all-hands meeting on Tuesday, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy addressed employee concerns, stating that the company's plan to require workers to be in the office five days a week is not intended to drive attrition or appease city leaders, as some have speculated, according to a Reuters report.
The controversial plan requiring Amazon employees to return to the office five days a week starting next year—up from the current three—has sparked frustration among workers. Many argue that the policy is more restrictive than those of other tech companies and will reduce productivity due to the added burden of commuting.
Employees who fail to comply with the new policy have been informed that they will be considered to have "voluntarily resigned" and will be locked out of company systems.
Addressing speculation, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy clarified, according to a transcript of the meeting reviewed by Reuters, "A number of people I've seen theorised that the reason we were doing this is, it's a backdoor layoff, or we made some sort of deal with city or cities.”
"I can tell you both of those are not true. You know, this was not a cost play for us. This is very much about our culture and strengthening our culture," he added.
Last month, Matt Garman, CEO of Amazon Web Services, implied that employees unwilling to comply with the new full in-office policy could seek employment elsewhere. He also claimed that nine out of ten employees he had spoken to supported the change.
In response, over 500 Amazon employees signed a letter urging Garman to reconsider the policy. The letter emphasised that the company had successfully operated remotely and argued that the new requirement would disproportionately affect workers with families or medical challenges.
In a letter, employees expressed their dismay: "We were appalled to hear the non-data-driven explanation you gave for Amazon imposing a five-day in-office mandate."
In response, Amazon emphasised offering commuter benefits, subsidised parking, and other support to help ease the transition to the new office policy.
"It is an adjustment," Jassy acknowledged on Tuesday. "I understand that for a lot of people, and we're going to be working through that adjustment together."
He also mentioned that an internal system for reporting excessive bureaucracy had been effective, noting that of the approximately 500 emails received, the company had addressed about 150, though he did not provide specifics.
Amazon recently reported a record $15.3 billion profit for the third quarter and projected a strong performance for the holiday season. The five-day in-office mandate will take effect on January 2.