Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has a message to employees who don’t want to return to the office: “It’s not going to work out for you.” That’s according to a report from Insider, which says Jassy made that statement during a meeting earlier this month.
While Amazon ordered its employees to return to the office for three days per week starting in May, many Amazon employees weren’t happy about the decision. Thousands of workers signed a petition against the mandate and staged a walkout in response.
That clearly hasn’t changed Amazon’s position on the matter. In a recording of the meeting obtained by Insider, Jassy told workers, “It’s past the time to disagree and commit,” adding that “if you can’t disagree and commit... It’s probably not going to work out for you at Amazon because we are going back to the office at least three days a week.”
Jassy reportedly said his decision to have employees return to the office was a “judgment call” and that employees can leave if they don’t want to comply. “It’s not right for all of our teammates to be in three days a week and for people to refuse to do so,” Jassy stated. The Verge reached out to Amazon with a request for comment but didn’t immediately hear back.
On top of ongoing layoffs, Amazon has been cracking down on employees who refuse to return to the office. In July, leaked messages seen by Insider suggested that Amazon would force a “voluntary resignation” on employees who don’t relocate to the in-person hubs where their teams work while others just began quitting on their own. The company has also started sending warnings to workers about their in-person attendance, according to Insider.