Amazon’s cloud division CEO, Matt Garman, delivered a clear message to employees regarding the company’s return-to-office mandate during an all-hands meeting at Amazon’s second headquarters in Arlington, Virginia.
Garman told staff that those who are uncomfortable with the newly implemented five-day in-office policy can seek employment elsewhere, as there are “other companies around,” according to a transcript viewed by CNBC.
He explained that Amazon values a collaborative environment, which the company believes is better fostered through in-person work. Garman’s comments follow CEO Andy Jassy’s earlier announcement that Amazon will fully return to office work by 2025, an extension of the current three-day in-office policy that has been in place for about a year.
Garman emphasized that the new return-to-office mandate is aimed at enhancing collaboration and innovation at Amazon, key factors in the company’s workplace culture. He highlighted that working in the office promotes a more effective and productive environment, which Amazon sees as essential for its competitiveness in the rapidly evolving tech landscape, particularly in the race to develop generative artificial intelligence alongside rivals like Microsoft, OpenAI, and Google.
Garman, who took over as head of Amazon Web Services (AWS) in June after the departure of his predecessor, Adam Selipsky, stated that Amazon’s leadership believes returning to the office will support these goals.
Remote Work Supporters Voice Opposition
The return-to-office policy has sparked opposition from some employees, many of whom argue they are just as productive working remotely or in a hybrid model. Others expressed concerns about the strain the policy places on families and caregivers. According to a person familiar with the situation, roughly 37,000 employees have joined an internal Slack channel dedicated to advocating for remote work and sharing frustrations over the return-to-work mandate.
During the all-hands meeting, Garman shared that he has been in discussions with employees and noted that “nine out of 10 people are actually quite excited by this change.” However, he acknowledged that there would be some cases where flexibility is granted, giving an example where an employee might work from home for a day to focus on a specific task with their manager’s approval. Despite this, he reiterated that Amazon’s priority is maintaining an office environment as the default for its workforce.
Garman also stressed the importance of preserving Amazon’s culture and leadership principles, a set of more than a dozen philosophies that guide employee decisions. One principle he cited is “disagree and commit,” which encourages respectful debate and pushback on ideas among employees. He remarked that this practice is particularly difficult to execute through Amazon’s videoconferencing platform, Chime. “I don’t know if you guys have tried to disagree via a Chime call — it’s very hard,” Garman said, underscoring his point that in-person interactions are crucial for productive discussions and maintaining the company’s collaborative ethos.
Amazon has given employees until January 2, 2025, to comply with the new five-day in-office mandate, officially phasing out its pandemic-era remote work policies. The company maintains that working together in person will strengthen its teams’ effectiveness and help drive future innovation.
