Amazon workers 'appalled' by top exec's explanation for 5-day return to office policy
“I used to be proud of my work and excited about my future here,” said one employee. “I don’t feel that anymore.”
More than 500 Amazon employees sent a letter on Wednesday to the CEO of its AWS unit urging reversal of a full return-to-office policy and rejecting his assertion that the rule had broad support and opponents should leave Amazon Web Services.
“We were appalled to hear the non-data-driven explanation you gave for Amazon imposing a five-day in-office mandate,” the letter begins.
AWS CEO Matt Garman, at an Oct. 17 all-hands meeting of the cloud computing unit, said nine out of 10 workers he had spoken with supported the return-to-office policy, set to take effect early next year.
Those comments are “inconsistent with the experiences of many employees” and are “misrepresenting the realities of working at Amazon,” according to the letter, which Reuters reviewed after it was sent to Garman.
An Amazon spokesperson said the company offers commuter benefits, elder care and subsidized parking rates, among other things, to help with in-office work.