Amazon Employees Applying for Jobs As Experts Say RTO Mandate Is a ‘Negotiation Game’

Amazon employees are following through on threats, applying for new jobs outside of the company in the wake of CEO Andy Jassy’s RTO mandate.

Jassy announced employees would be required to come into the office five days a week, sparking major backlash. According to a survey by the anonymous professional forum Blind, some 73% of employees were considering applying for new jobs after the mandate.

Catch our talk on Amazon’s RTO mandate as a ‘negotiation game’!

Fortune is reporting that employees are beginning to do just that after coming to the conclusion that their days at Amazon are numbered.

“My months of struggling to make three days a week are over, and I know that my time at Amazon has to end,” an employee named Laura told the outlet.

Laura was hired remotely during the pandemic, and she was assured she would be able to continue working remotely. She views the company’s RTO mandates as a betrayal, with the company reneging on its promises. As a result, she has no desire to put forth the effort to comply with the mandate.

“Honestly, I’ve lost so much trust in Amazon leadership at this point,” she adds. “I’ve been updating my resume and portfolio, and rage applying to new jobs on LinkedIn.”

Adding to the sense of betrayal is the fact that Laura found out via news article, rather than from her manager.

“At first, I didn’t quite believe it,” she told Fortune. “After all, who expects to get career-altering news from a news article instead of your employer.”

“Which, to be honest, is a pretty horrible way to find out about something that’s going to impact your life in a huge way. I really, really would have liked a personal communication from my manager, but that didn’t happen for a couple of days.”

Amazon’s RTO Mandate May Be a Negotiating Ploy

Some are not convinced Amazon is really trying to force people back to the office five days a week, believing the mandate could be a negotiating ploy.

Amazon previously passed a three-day-a-week RTO mandate, but many employees were not cooperating.

“I was not complying,” an employee named Ben told Fortune, citing the three-hour commute he faced as the reason for not coming into the office three days a week.

“I decided not to make life choices as Amazon can fire me at will anyway, and I do not want to make long-term life changes because some manager decided I should start going to the office when I was hired virtual and promised I could work from wherever I want,” he added.

Experts have told Fortune that the five-day-a-week RTO mandate could be a negotiation ploy designed to get employees to commit to the three days a week management originally asked for.

Amazon’s Motives Are Unclear…And That’s a Problem

Ultimately, no one outside of Amazon’s senior management knows why the company is insisting employees return to the office, especially given how unpopular the RTO mandate has been and the backlash the company is facing.

Some have speculated that Amazon is using mandates as an elaborate scheme to thin the ranks of its workforce and maximize its profits.

“It’s not about collaboration,” said John McBride, a former AWS employee. “It’s about maximizing profit margins, minimizing tax liabilities, and cutting the workforce in the most strategic way possible.”

With experts now telling Fortune that they believe Amazon’s plans are a negotiation ploy, it’s clear that no one outside the company really knows what’s going on.