Several Amazon employees have recently been expressing their dissatisfaction with the company’s strict return-to-office policy through Slack messages, leading to an increase in resignations.
One employee wrote in a message on the company’s internal Slack channel dedicated to policy discussions, “This is my last week at Amazon and my only reason for leaving is the return-to-hub policy.”
This year, the “remote advocacy” channel, which focuses on remote work, has grown to include over 34,000 employees.
As many Amazon employees approach their respective office return deadlines, the rise in departures may be linked to these impending dates.
Notable Departures from AWS
Amazon Web Services (AWS), the company’s cloud unit, has experienced a number of significant departures in the past week. One of the departing AWS employees had previously expressed their concerns about the return-to-office policy on Slack.
Merritt Baer, who left AWS in July after more than 5 years, posted on X, “The sheer number of AWS resignations in the last week is stunning.”
Other employees who recently announced their plans to quit on Slack cited the return-to-office policy as the sole reason for finding new jobs.
An AWS employee stated, “I accepted an offer for a senior position at a remote-first company and put in my two-week’s notice today. I want to make it clear that the return-to-office policy and the poor communication surrounding its implementation is the sole reason I am leaving Amazon.”
Another AWS employee wrote, “This is my last day at Amazon. I was given a relocation mandate that was never going to be possible for me, and fortunately I found an opportunity I’m excited about prior to my deadline.”
The ‘Return-to-Hub’ Policy
In early 2023, Amazon began requiring most staff to work in the office at least 3 days a week. In July, the company introduced a “return-to-hub” policy, which requires employees to work from designated hubs instead of the nearest office to their current city.
Amazon did not provide a comment by press time on Tuesday. However, the company has been asked for comment on its return-to-office policy multiple times in recent months. In July, spokesperson Brad Glasser stated that there is “more energy, collaboration, and connections happening since we’ve been working together.”
Despite these official comments, some Amazon employees have decided to leave the company due to concerns about what they perceive as a lack of respect from management regarding the return-to-office policy, as well as the mass layoffs earlier this year.
One employee wrote, “Tomorrow is my last day at Amazon. The lack of basic human respect leadership has shown with the layoffs and forced return-to-office is completely unacceptable.”
Another employee from AWS wrote, “Today is my last day at Amazon. The lack of basic respect for employees as human beings with lives and families that our executives have shown through repeated rounds of layoffs, the poorly planned, forced return-to-office and return-to-team mandates done with no data to back them up or consultation.”
Employee attrition is one of the challenges facing Amazon’s cloud business, as the unit deals with slowing growth, missed sales targets, and employee fatigue over a push to sell new AI services, as previously reported by BI.
An Amazon spokesperson stated last week that “attrition among AWS employees has declined in recent years and it’s inaccurate to suggest there’s a problem with employee retention.”
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