Amazon employees are pushing back against CEO Andy Jassy’s decision to enforce a five-day return-to-office (RTO) mandate starting in 2025, expressing dissatisfaction through an anonymous survey, Fortune reports.
The internal survey, shared widely among Amazon’s corporate workforce via Slack channels, indicates strong opposition to the new mandate, with an average satisfaction rating of just 1.4 out of 5 as of September 24. Employees accustomed to Amazon’s 15-month hybrid work structure fear the change will negatively impact their work-life balance, productivity, and flexibility, particularly for those collaborating with colleagues across different time zones.
The survey, which includes responses from hundreds of employees, was initially circulated in a Slack group called “remote advocacy,” which has over 30,000 members. The group was created following Amazon’s three-day RTO mandate last year. The creators of the survey plan to share the results with Jassy and other top executives, aiming to highlight the challenges employees face under the new policy and offer potential solutions.
Employee Concerns Focus on Flexibility and Talent Retention
Jassy, in his memo announcing the five-day RTO policy, emphasized that working together in person fosters better collaboration, innovation, and cultural alignment within the company.
However, many employees argue that the flexibility of remote work enables them to more easily manage tasks like off-hours meetings with colleagues in different time zones. They contend that the mandate will reduce productivity by limiting their ability to adjust schedules for such global collaboration.
Employees also voiced concerns about the lack of data supporting the decision and the potential for the policy to drive out top talent. Some fear that the most skilled employees, who have more job opportunities elsewhere, may leave Amazon, while those with fewer options, such as visa-holders, may become disengaged. One employee suggested that the return to office would reduce the extra hours employees could dedicate to work due to commuting, leading to unrealistic expectations from management.
Despite these concerns, a small number of respondents expressed satisfaction with the new policy, although many of those who selected “satisfied” or “strongly satisfied” left comments that appeared contradictory to their rating, suggesting possible errors in survey responses.
This isn’t the first time Amazon employees have attempted to reverse an RTO mandate. Last year, a group of workers sent a six-page memo to leadership advocating against the original three-day RTO policy, but their efforts were unsuccessful. With Jassy and Amazon leadership standing firm on the five-day mandate, it remains unclear whether the latest feedback will lead to any changes.
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