Former Amazon engineer says company’s 5-day return-to-work policy causes employees to rethink jobs

6 comments

1. No. Its more likely they really do believe that RTO makes them more productive.

   They chose now to do it because they know the market for experienced skilled workers is really bad and the workers have no choice but to comply with the RTO mandate.

   The employees can rethink their job situation all they want but the fact is they have very options with the current job market.

2. That’s 100% the point. They’re trying to push people out who don’t actually need the jobs so that they can 1) save money and 2) have more control over their workforce.

3. Forced RTO policies have generally been the first thing companies do before layoffs. The idea is the more people you get to quit, the less you have to pay a severance to.

   That said, I’m pretty sure Amazon has layoffs every year. Their performance management encourages layoffs.

4. Amazon isn’t cash strapped. They don’t need to make people to quit. They assume people will leave, and they’re ok with it. That’s different than forcing a layoff without the name.

   They want to have an in-office culture. That’s ok. Maybe they’ll need to pay more. Maybe they’ll need to be nicer to employees. Maybe they don’t need to do anything.

5. I’m not sure because it is going to be some of their best engineers who leave since they have the most leverage and opportunities. Perhaps Amazon wants to get younger.

6. This is why white collar labor unions are needed. Instead of doing this whole cutting numbers by getting people to quit, imagine everyone just went on strike.