Microsoft won’t follow an Amazon-style RTO policy unless productivity slows, exec tells employees in an internal meeting

• A Microsoft exec reassured staff it wouldn’t mandate an office return unless productivity dropped.
• Amazon’s five-day RTO policy has faced backlash from some of its corporate workers.
• Microsoft recently pitched hybrid work as a way to boost productivity and retain employees.

After Amazon ordered corporate workers back to the office five days a week, a Microsoft executive assured employees the software giant had no plans to follow its rival — unless productivity slowed.

Microsoft has a flexible policy that lets most employees work remotely. And many of the company’s open roles allow an eventual hire to work from home at least 50% of the time.

Scott Guthrie, the executive vice president of Microsoft’s cloud and AI group, told employees during a recent internal meeting that the company wouldn’t consider changing this policy unless it noticed a drop in productivity, according to two employees who were present. They were granted anonymity to discuss internal matters, but their identities are known to Business Insider.

Microsoft, which sells software that enables remote work, such as its Teams chat and video app, recently pitched hybrid work as a way to retain employees and increase their productivity.

“If you make the time to do it right, your employees will be more engaged, more productive, and more connected, even when they’re miles away,” Keith Boyd, a Microsoft IT senior director, wrote in an August post about the hybrid-work approach. “And they’ll be far less likely to leave for a competitor who has a more sophisticated and flexible model than you do.”

Amazon’s RTO mandate, which begins next year, has been met with opposition from some of its employees.

A Microsoft spokesperson confirmed the company’s flexible-work policy hadn’t changed but did not comment further on Monday.

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