Amazon Employees Considering Quitting over New Return-to-Office Policy

As expected, Amazon employees are disappointed by the latest return-to-office policy that has been announced at the organization. According to a recent survey, Amazon’s employees are considering quitting their jobs in protest of the upcoming change, which will switch the three-day in-office mandate to a five-day policy.

Amazon’s 5-day office mandate came as a surprise to many and while workers have till the start of next year to prepare for the change, many are getting ready to switch roles in that time—approximately 73% of them.

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Amazon Employees Resist Return-to-Office Policy

A new survey by Blind asked 2,585 verified employees about their thoughts on the Amazon 5-day office mandate. This represents a very small cross-section of the employees who work at the organization and it has also likely been answered more vociferously by those who are against the upcoming policy, but it does paint a very clear picture of how a segment of the workers feel about the change.

To sum up the results, 73% of employees are thinking about looking for another job due to the new policy which will require them to work from the office on all five working days. Before this, employees had some flexibility of working from the comfort of their homes twice a week but with Amazon’s new policy, this will change across the organization. Some workers with extenuating circumstances may be able to seek permission to work from home every once in a while but working from home will no longer be the standard practice.

When we look back over the last five years, we continue to believe that the advantages of being together in the office are significant. I’ve previously explained these benefits (February 2023 post), but in summary, we’ve observed that it’s easier for our teammates to learn, model, practice, and strengthen our culture; collaborating, brainstorming, and inventing are simpler and more effective; teaching and learning from one another are more seamless; and, teams tend to be better connected to one another. 

If anything, the last 15 months we’ve been back in the office at least three days a week has strengthened our conviction about the benefits.

—Amazon CEO Andy Jassy

Not all Amazon employees are considering quitting but 91% of the respondents expressed dissatisfaction with the presented policy. In addition to this, 32% know someone who has already quit because of the policy but these numbers cannot be verified. 

The Amazon 5-Day Work Mandate May Cause Dissatisfaction but Will Workers Really Quit?

The Amazon employees’ reaction to the return-to-office policy is unsurprising as employees have repeatedly expressed their preference for work-for-home opportunities and hybrid models of work. It is unlikely that employees are going to quit in big numbers considering the state of the job market, as employers have been focused on bringing down their numbers and not increasing them. With fewer job opportunities available on the market, employees will find it much harder to look for a role that compensates them on the same level as their current job. 

In response to Amazon’s 5-day office mandate, many have hypothesized that the move could be the result of the company’s attempt to push workers to quit without having to resort to firing them. Layoffs come with the added burden of severance packages and fulfilling additional promises to the worker, but employees who choose to leave voluntarily do not have such benefits available to them. From Google to Microsoft, many different companies have turned to layoffs this year and the trend is likely to be considered for a few more months. 

The workers’ reactions to the Amazon 5-day office mandate were accompanied by different comments where employees expressed their thoughts on the policy. Some are worried that all the effort to relocate closer to the office will be met with a surprise layoff that will make the move redundant. Others have reported that they’re going to only be passive workers at the organization, with no drive to work any harder than needed.

Amazon’s employees will have to make their peace with the return-to-office policy as the chances of the company reversing the decision are extremely low. Even if they do alter the policy, it is likely that other tech players will begin with their own RTO policies to bring back workers. If this is the start of an industry-wide change, employees will have to accept jobs under these “new” work conditions.

The results of Amazon’s five-day mandate will only become evident in Jan next year, when we’ll be able to understand how many employees actually quit and what impact it has on the company. It is also likely that other employers will use this as a case study on how to shape their own policies. 

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