Amazon CEO Andy Jassy recently told employees that those who do not want to return to the office at least three days a week should consider finding employment elsewhere. According to a recording obtained by Insider, Jassy stated “It’s past the time to disagree and commit,” adding that if employees cannot commit to the new hybrid work model, “it’s probably not going to work out for you at Amazon.” He characterized the decision to have employees return to the office part-time as a “judgment call.” Notably, Jassy said employees are free to leave if they do not want to comply with the hybrid work requirement. This makes clear that Amazon has not changed its stance on returning to office work despite some employees preferring full remote arrangements.
The only theory i’ve heard thats somewhat plausible is that this is a way to “soft fire” employees in bulk to save on costs and dodge legal responsibilities. But even then that idea only makes sense if you assume they are idiots that dont know or care about massive amounts of institutional forgetting - as lost workers are not 1:1 replacible - and that they are worth firing in an entirely random matter.