'Breaking the trust' | 500 Amazon Web Services workers sign open letter to CEO challenging RTO mandate

Amazon employees have pushed back against the company’s recent return-to-office (RTO) policy, addressing a letter to Amazon Web Services (AWS) CEO Matt Garman that calls for reconsideration of the mandate.

The letter, reportedly signed by more than 500 AWS employees, criticizes the full RTO policy requiring five days a week in the office starting next year, arguing that it is not supported by data and lacks the backing that Garman asserted.

The letter follows remarks Garman made at an AWS all-hands meeting on October 17, where he claimed that nine out of ten employees he’d spoken with supported the RTO policy. Employees refute the statement, stating that it “misrepresents the realities of working at Amazon” and that Garman’s comments “are inconsistent with the experiences of many employees.”

The company is accused of enforcing a policy that disregards the effectiveness of remote work, particularly for those with disabilities, family obligations, or long commutes, making it increasingly difficult for them to continue working for Amazon.