On July 1, 2024, during an episode of CNBC’s Power Lunch, Amazon Web Services’ CEO Matt Garman conveyed a direct message to employees regarding Amazon’s newly implemented five-day in-office mandate. At an all-hands meeting held at Amazon’s second headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, Garman stated that employees who disagree with the new policy have the option to leave the company. He emphasized that Amazon seeks to cultivate a collaborative work environment, which he believes is essential for innovation and maintaining company culture.
Amazon has observed that in-office work enhances collaboration and effectiveness among teams, a company representative informed CNBC. These remarks were initially reported by Reuters. The company announced the new mandate last month, transitioning from a previous policy that required corporate staff to be in the office at least three times a week. Employees must comply with the updated policy by January 2.
Post-pandemic, Amazon is moving away from its remote work policies to compete with rivals such as Microsoft, OpenAI, and Google in the development of generative artificial intelligence. This challenge is among the primary responsibilities faced by Garman, who assumed the position of AWS CEO in June, succeeding Adam Selipsky.
The mandate has faced backlash from some employees who claim they are equally productive working remotely or in a hybrid setting. Additionally, some argue that the requirement increases pressure on families and caregivers. An internal Slack channel, reportedly with approximately 37,000 members, was established last year for employees to express preferences for remote work and discuss issues related to the mandate.
During the meeting, Garman mentioned that most employees are enthusiastic about the change. He recognized that some flexibility might be necessary in certain situations, allowing, for example, an employee to work from home occasionally with managerial approval.
Garman highlighted the importance of the in-office requirement for upholding Amazon’s culture and leadership principles—guidelines designed to steer employee decisions and objectives. He specifically referred to the principle of “disagree and commit,” which encourages respectful debate and challenge among employees, a practice that he noted can be difficult to achieve via Amazon’s videoconferencing tool, Chime.
