"AWS is not realizing its full potential with this mandate, and it is setting a discouraging path forward," the letter shared with The Seattle Times stated. "While flexible and remote work does have its challenges, AWS has always been a company that tackles problems in innovative, forward-thinking ways, rather than falling back on outdated solutions that worked in the past. The cloud computing industry might not exist today if we had held onto such restrictive thinking in our early days."
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy previously announced in a memo that the policy would begin on January 2, 2025. Prior to this change, Amazon required employees to be in the office three days a week, a shift that sparked protests as well. About 15 months after that initial mandate, Amazon is now expanding the requirement to restore pre-pandemic work norms.