High-Ranking Amazon Exec Defends Return-to-Office Mandate in Leaked Meeting Transcript: ‘There Are Other Companies’

Amazon’s return-to-office mandate has been controversial among staff, leading a senior executive to defend it at a leaked internal meeting.

Amazon is asking all workers to come back to the office five days per week starting January 2. Last month, hundreds of employees anonymously asked senior leadership to overturn the mandate.

In an Amazon Web Services (AWS) all-hands meeting, the transcript of which was first reported by Reuters on Thursday, AWS CEO Matt Garman not only backed the return-to-office policy but also said that anyone dissatisfied with it could find work elsewhere.

“If there are people who just don’t work well in that environment and don’t want to, that’s okay, there are other companies around,” Garman said.

Related: Amazon Cloud CEO Predicts a Future Where Most Software Engineers Don’t Code — and AI Does It Instead

He said he didn’t mean the comment “in a bad way” but wanted an atmosphere of collaboration. In-person work uniquely allows AWS to “innovate on interesting products,” he said.

A June fireside chat with Garman also leaked earlier this year. In the recording, Garman said that AI changes the role of a software engineer and that innovation will replace coding.

Other tech giants have also decided on a five-day in-person workweek for their employees. Dell, for example, gave sales staff two days to return to the office five days a week.

Related: Dell Is Labeling Hybrid Employees With ‘Red Flags’ Based on How Often They’re in the Office