A growing number of Amazon employees are “rage applying” for other jobs in the wake of CEO Andy Jassy’s mandate to return to the office full-time at the start of the new year, according to a report.
One Amazon worker who had become accustomed to working from home during her tenure at the company told Fortune magazine that she learned of the new mandate from a story in the news media rather than from her superiors.
“Honestly, I’ve lost so much trust in Amazon leadership at this point,” said the employee, who identified herself as Laura.
She was incensed that the new mandate means she would need to add four hours to her weekly commute.
“I’ve been updating my resume and portfolio, and rage applying to new jobs on LinkedIn,” Laura said.
After her initial shock, the employee eventually made peace with the verdict, stating that “my time at Amazon has to end.”
“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.”
Laura said she was hired by Amazon during the pandemic with the understanding that the company did not expect her to have to report to the office.
Last year, Jassy told corporate employees that he wanted them “back to being in the office together the majority of the time,” which translated to three days per week. Jassy sent out his new directive two weeks ago.
“The original RTO mandate was a tough pill to swallow, but the latest one is impossible,” Laura said.
Several other employees told Fortune that they too were looking for other jobs due to the travel demands from the five-day-a-week mandate.
One employee told Fortune that he was hired remotely in May last year — a month after the company made its initial announcement telling workers they were expected in the office three days a week.
“I left a decent company I live near to go to Amazon since it was working from home,” said the worker, who was identified only by his first name, Luca.
“For me, it’s not that I don’t want to go in the office, there is no office close to me.”
Luca told Fortune that until now, his manager had been covering for him while he’s been absent from the office.
But the new edict will render that arrangement untenable.
“I like my job at Amazon, but I need firm ground to stand on and they are not providing that,” he said.
Jared, who was hired by Amazon six months ago, said he has changed his LinkedIn status to #opentowork.
“The new policy is less flexible than pre-COVID and does not respect the needs of employees to take care of their health, their family, or work-life balance,” Jared said.
“I will not go back.”
The Post has sought comment from Amazon.
