Amazon is not only putting its foot down and reaffirming its commitment to return to office work five days a week from January 2025; one of the company’s top executives even claims that employees are rejoicing at the mandate.
Matt Garman, the CEO of the Amazon Web Services (AWS) unit, emphasized that “nine out of 10” employees he spoke to were looking forward to implementing the new policy.
And if they aren’t? “That’s OK, there are other companies around,” the head of the tech giant’s cloud computing division said in an internal call reviewed by Reuters.
Research shows that many employees do exactly that.
Garman may be in for a shock: Despite his assessment that most workers are eager to return to their desks, plenty of research shows that many will be dissatisfied and take him up on his offer to quit.
According to a new report from Remote, 67% of U.S. employers have already lost talent to competitors offering remote or hybrid work options in the past six months.
Globally, more than 73% of employers in ten countries including Britain, Germany and Japan have faced a similar dilemma after calling time on remote working.
After all, they’re competing with the 70% of companies that have said they’re embracing — and even expanding — their remote policies. The same percentage of companies have indicated that they have accepted hybrid working as the new norm.
At Amazon you can already see this in action: a handful of employees told anonymously Fortune that they had already contacted recruiters and interviewed for more flexible roles, just 48 hours after the tech giant announced it would be taking a tougher stance on working from home.
“Honestly, I’ve lost so much faith in Amazon’s leadership at this point,” one exasperated working mother complained. “I updated my resume and portfolio and am furious when I apply for new jobs on LinkedIn.”
She’s not alone: Anonymous job rating site Blind surveyed 2,585 verified Amazon professionals a day after CEO Andy Jassy sent the RTO memo and 73% admitted they were considering quitting in response.
More than a third say they know someone at the company who has already resigned because of the announcement.
Amazon declined to comment on how it is preparing for a possible workforce exodus — and whether that’s what the $1.94 trillion tech giant secretly really wants.
While Jassy positioned the changes at Amazon – which also include a flattened hierarchy and the elimination of flex desks – as a better, more collaborative way of working, some employees are adamant that it is a thinly veiled workforce reduction.
