Amazon Web Services (AWS) CEO Matt Garman is facing criticism from employees over his recent comments about Amazon’s stricter return-to-office (RTO) policy, as detailed in an open letter obtained by Business Insider.
Over 500 employees signed the letter, sent Wednesday, to protest the mandate requiring in-office work five days a week, an increase from the previous three-day policy. The letter urges Garman to reconsider, following his remarks in a recent all-hands meeting where he claimed that nine out of ten employees he had spoken with were enthusiastic about returning full-time to the office.
Garman, addressing the RTO policy for the first time in that meeting, reportedly suggested that those opposed could seek employment elsewhere, saying “there are other companies around.” Employees responding to this comment argued in the letter that enforcing a five-day in-office requirement stifles critical perspectives and is harmful to company culture. They wrote, “By rigidly mandating a 5-day in-office culture and telling employees…‘there are other companies around,’ you are silencing critical perspectives and damaging our culture and our future.”
During the meeting, Garman also expressed doubts about employees’ capacity to “really innovate” without in-person collaboration, a view that some staff feel does not reflect their experiences. One employee noted that Garman had informally spoken with a handful of AWS engineers at the company’s headquarters to support his statement that most employees he met were enthusiastic about the mandate.
Amazon’s RTO policy, announced in September, is set to take effect next year and requires daily office attendance, a stricter standard than those adopted by many peer companies and even Amazon’s own pre-pandemic policies. CEO Andy Jassy initially announced the mandate, stating it would help “strengthen” Amazon’s culture and team cohesion.
The letter originated in an internal Slack channel with over 30,000 employees and has been signed by 523 staff members from Amazon and AWS, with 172 employees choosing to include their names. Amazon’s workforce numbered 1.5 million employees in 2023, the majority in warehouse roles.
