AWS boss: Don't want to come back to the office? Go work somewhere else
- Reference: 1729265347
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/10/18/aws_rto/
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Garman's comments were made at an all-hands meeting, [1]reported by Reuters . They followed Amazon CEO Andy Jassy's September memo informing staff that everyone was expected back at their desk five days a week from the start of 2025.
"If there are people who just don't work well in that environment and don't want to, that's okay, there are other companies around," the AWS boss told his workers.
Return to Office mandates boost company profits? Nope [2]READ MORE
"By the way, I don't mean that in a bad way," Garman added, "we want to be in an environment where we're working together."
A poll of more than 2,500 Amazon workers last month found that [3]91 percent were unimpressed by the RTO mandate , a stark contrast to the "nine out of ten" workers Garman said he had spoken with who supported the policy.
[4]
Garman's comments echoed those made by Jassy, [5]who in mid-September wrote : "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."
[6]HR expert says biz leaders scared RTO mandates lead to staff attrition
[7]Google's ex-CEO U-turns after saying staff 'going home early' killed winning
[8]Amazon to staff: Come into the office – it'd be a shame if something happened to your promotion
[9]Apple's return-to-office plan savaged by staff
While Amazon's policy is one of the more aggressive, it is hardly the only tech giant ordering staff to return to the office following a change of working practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. Dell is also upping the ante with a [10]demand that its sales team spend five rather than three days per week in the office.
Cynics might view wonder if return-to-office mandates will be the cause of resignations as employees look for more flexible opportunities, thus avoiding the poor optics of the mass layoffs seen in the tech industry in recent years. Amazon, for example, [11]cut thousands of jobs in the last two years, chalking it up to the need to shed excess after overhiring during the pandemic.
'Return to Office' declared dead [12]READ MORE
Still, as a method for ditching workers, an unpopular (or wildly popular, according to Garman) the RTO command is no worse than Bandai Namco's " [13]Expulsion Rooms " where employees are bored into resigning.
The Register asked AWS to comment, but the cloud giant is yet to respond.
[14]
In the meantime, we also asked an Alexa device for its thoughts on RTO directives. It responded by quoting a Forbes article on how wonderful the concept was. Strangely, it did not reference The Register 's previous article on the [15]drop in morale and innovation that could arise from forcing staff back to their desks rather than engaging with them. ®
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[1] https://www.reuters.com/technology/amazon-aws-ceo-quit-if-you-dont-want-return-office-2024-10-17/
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/02/return_to_office_mandates_do_not_boost_profits/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/25/amazon_staff_return_office/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/paasiaas&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZxKGJdJudNbAEDmQc2zwvwAAAAI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/16/hybrid_amazon_return_to_work/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/16/hr_say_biz_leaders_scared_rto/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/15/googles_exceo_steps_back_from/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/15/amazon_in_person_mandate/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/03/apple_return_to_the_office/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/26/dell_sales_staff_full_rto/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/05/tech_workers_in_the_firing/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2023/12/03/return_to_office/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/16/bandai_namcos_layoff_technique_is/
[14] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/paasiaas&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZxKGJdJudNbAEDmQc2zwvwAAAAI&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/12/wfh_mandates_bad_for_staff/
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Moved!
I suspect many of the holdout remote workers no longer live in the city which they were employed. Apparently a large number of Californians moved out of state to places with lower costs of living, driving up the cost of living in many cities in Arizona and Nevada.
OTOH he's telling the world - and that includes potential customers - that AWS won't deploy its software to support remote working. What if those businesses want to support remote working for themselves? Might they take the view that "won't" means "can't"? Might they wonder if, by not using it themselves, AWS might produce a sub-optimal product.
It's a far more convincing sales story for a large IT business to demonstrate that it eats its own dog-food.
"AWS might produce a sub-optimal product". Might?!
Easier to interact if in the same place
"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."
I know. Although retired* I still have a regular get-together conference call with my erstwhile 'workplace proximity associates'**. Although, now I come to think of it, the last two fortnightly calls have been cancelled at short notice ...
* = 'Economically inactive' even though I still have to pay for things :o(
** = People I used to work near in the office, rather than work with in a team.
There are other companies around...
... but we're working on it, he added.