Amazon CEO’s brutal WFH warning

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has issued a stark warning to company staff who refuse to go to the office at least three days a week, saying: “It’s probably not going to work out for you”. 

Mr Jassy gave the warning at a company meeting this month during which he expressed frustration that some employees continued to defy Amazon’s return-to-office mandate. 

During the meeting, known in internal Amazon lingo as a “fishbowl” meeting, Mr Jassy declined to share data that motivated his decision to require employees to return to the office. 

The CEO said it was a “judgement call” and reportedly invited employees who were unhappy with the decision to seek employment elsewhere. 

“And if you can’t disagree and commit, I also understand that, but it’s probably not going to work out for you at Amazon because we are going back to the office at least three days a week, and it’s not right for all of our teammates to be in three days a week and for people to refuse to do so.” 

Mr Jassy told Amazon staff he had spoken to many other CEOs and “virtually all of them” preferred having their employees back in the office.

Last month, Amazon confirmed that it was asking some corporate workers to relocate as part of its return-to-office policy.

Amazon employees who refused to relocate near main offices of their teams were told they either have to find a new job internally or leave the company through a “voluntary resignation.”
 

In March, around 30,000 workers signed a petition demanding Mr Jassy cancel his directive that most employees work on site at least three days per week.

The return-to-office plan took effect on May 1.

In February, Mr Jassy said the company decided to bring workers back after observing what worked and what didn’t during the pandemic.

Among other things, he said Amazon’s senior leadership team watched how staff performed and talked to leaders at other companies. He said they concluded employees tended to be more engaged in person and collaborated more easily.

Earlier this year, Amazon, which employees more than 1.5 million people worldwide, announced it was laying off 27,000 workers as it attempted to cut costs.