Amazon is seeing some employees quit instead of moving to a new state as part of relocation mandate

As
part
of


Amazon’s
aggressive
effort
to
get
employees
back
to
the
office,
the
company
is
going
a
step
further
and
demanding
that
some
staffers
move
to
a
central
hub
to
be
with
their
team.
Those
who
are
unwilling
or
unable
to
comply
are
being
forced
to
find
work
elsewhere,
and
some
are
choosing
to
quit,
CNBC
has
learned.

Several
employees
spoke
to
CNBC
about
the
new
relocation
requirement.
An
employee
in
Texas,
who
was
hired
in
a
remote
role,
said
managers
assured
his
team
in
March
that
nothing
would
change
despite
the
return-to-office
(RTO)
mandate
issued
the

prior
month.
But
in
July,
the
team
was
informed
by
management
that
they’d
have
to
choose
between
working
out
of
Seattle,
New
York,
Austin,
Texas,
or
Arlington,
Virginia,
according
to
internal
correspondence.

Under
the
guidelines,
remote
workers
are
expected
to
have
completed
their
move
to
a
main
hub
by
the
first
half
of
2024,
the
document
states.
The
employee,
who
doesn’t
live
near
any
of
the
designated
cities,
chose
to
leave
Amazon
after
securing
another
position,
in
part
due
to
uncertainty
about
future
job
security
and
the
potential
of
higher
living
costs
associated
with
the
relocation
with
no
guarantee
of
an
increase
in
salary.

The
person
asked
not
to
be
named
to
avoid
retaliation.
CNBC
spoke
with
three
other
employees
in
similar
situations
who
all
asked
to
remain
anonymous.

Amazon
spokesperson
Rob
Munoz
confirmed
the
relocation
policy,
and
said
it
affects
a
small
percentage
of
the
company’s
workforce.
The
e-commerce
giant
said
hub
locations
vary
by
team,
and
each
team
determines
which
locations
are
their
hub.
The
company
does
provide
relocation
benefits
to
employees
asked
to
move.

“It’s
not
a
one-size-fits-all
approach,
so
we
decided
that
the
best
thing
to
do
was
to
communicate
directly
with
teams
and
individuals
who
are
affected
to
ensure
they’re
getting
accurate
information
that’s
relevant
to
them,”
Munoz
said
in
a
statement.
“If
an
individual
feels
like
they
don’t
have
the
information
they
need,
we
encourage
them
to
talk
with
their
HR
business
partner
or
their
manager.”

The
relocation
requirement
is
escalating
tensions
between
Amazon
and
some
of
its
roughly
350,000
corporate
employees
over
RTO
plans
after
many
employees
moved
away
from
their
in-person
office
location
during
the
Covid
pandemic.

In
May,
Amazon
began
requiring
that
staffers
work
out
of
physical
offices
at
least
three
days
a
week,
shifting
from
a
policy
that
left
it
up
to
individual
managers
to
decide
how
often
team
members
should
be
in
the
office.
CEO
Andy
Jassy

has
extolled
the
benefits
of
in-person
work,
saying
it
leads
to
a
stronger
company
culture
and
collaboration
between
employees.

Following
the
mandate,
a
group
of
employees

walked
out
in
protest
at
the
company’s
Seattle
headquarters.
Staffers
also
criticized
how
Amazon
handled
the
decision
to
lay
off
27,000
people
as
part
of
job
cuts
that
began
last
year.

The
company
is
slashing
costs
elsewhere
as
well.
Amazon
said
it
will
end
a
perk
next
year
that
allows
staffers
to
get
one
free
drink
at
in-office
coffee
shops.
The
company
also
reduced
the
amount
it
reimburses
for
parking,
and
stopped
providing
free
Uber
rides
to
and
from
work,
employees
said.

Amazon
said
it
still
reimburses
employees’
public
transportation
costs
in
all
major
metro
areas,
and
provides
free
commuter
shuttles
and
campus
shuttles.

The
return-to-office
mandate
has
been
a
particularly
thorny
subject,
and
enforcement
has
been
a
challenge.
Amazon
sent
out
a
notification
earlier
this
month
to
some
staffers
informing
them
that
they
weren’t
“meeting
our
expectation
of
joining
your
colleagues
in
the
office
at
least
three
days
a
week,”
according
to
a
copy
of
the
memo
viewed
by
CNBC.
“We
expect
you
to
start
coming
into
the
office
three
or
more
days
a
week
now.”

Some
staffers
who
received
that
notice
had
been
in
compliance
with
the
mandate,
while
others
had
taken
vacation
or
sick
leave
that
was
approved
by
their
manager,
one
staffer
said.
Employees
expressed
their
frustration
over
the
notice
in
comments
on
an
internal
support
ticket,
said
the
person,
who
asked
to
remain
anonymous
because
he
wasn’t
authorized
to
speak
on
the
matter.

Amazon
responded
to
the
ticket,
explaining
internally
the
notice
was
sent
to
employees
who
it
determined
had
badged
in
fewer
than
three
days
a
week
for
at
least
five
of
the
past
eight
weeks
or
at
least
three
of
the
past
four
weeks.

“If
you
believe
that
you
received
this
email
in
error,
please
reach
out
to
your
manager
to
discuss
your
situation
and
ensure
it
is
accurately
reflected
in
the
system,”
the
company
said
on
the
support
site.

Amazon
confirmed
the
authenticity
of
the
internal
correspondence.
The
company
stressed
it
had
called
employees
back
to
the
office
three
days
a
week
because
it
felt
it
would
be
beneficial
for
company
culture.

“We
knew
that
there
would
be
some
adjustment
period,
so
we’ve
worked
to
support
people
as
they’ve
figured
out
their
routines,”
Munoz
said
in
a
statement.
“With
three
months
under
our
belt,
and
a
lot
more
people
back
in
the
office,
we’re
reiterating
our
expectation
that
people
join
their
teammates
at
least
three
days
in
the
office.”

For
employees
affected
by
the
relocation
policy,
Amazon
is
asking
that
they
move
to
a
designated
hub,
which
could
be
Seattle,
Arlington,
New
York,
Chicago,
San
Francisco
or
another
main
office.
Some
employees
see
it
as
a
stark
reversal
from
the
company’s
approach
during
the
pandemic,
when
Amazon
ramped
up
its
recruiting
outside
of
Seattle
and
Silicon
Valley,
and

pledged
to
expand
its
presence
in
markets
like
Phoenix,
Dallas
and
San
Diego.

The
employees
who
spoke
to
CNBC
said
they
view
the
relocation
requirement
as
onerous
and
significantly
disruptive
to
their
personal
lives.
In
some
cases,
staffers
are
being
asked
to
move
out
of
state,
which
would
require
them
to
break
their
housing
lease,
or
transition
their
children
to
new
schools.

Amazon
has
informed
the
employees
individually
about
the
change,
but
the
company
hasn’t
put
out
any
official
communication
to
the
broader
workforce.
In
late
July,
managers
began
informing
employees
that
they’d
soon
be
expected
to
work
from
a
main
hub
location,
and
they
could
choose
between
relocating,
finding
another
job
internally
or
resigning.
Some
were
told
they
had
30
to
60
days
to
make
a
decision,
the
staffers
said.

Three
employees
based
in
different
locations
—
Colorado,
Utah
and
California
—
were
each
asked
to
relocate
to
Seattle.
They
told
CNBC
they’ve
chosen
to
leave
Amazon
because
moving
would
burden
them
financially
or
put
too
much
strain
on
their
family.

The
employees
said
the
relocation
requirement
made
little
sense
to
them,
noting
they
already
live
within
walking
or
commuting
distance
of
an
Amazon
office
where
they’ve
been
working
the
mandated
three
days
a
week.

The
prospect
of
transferring
to
a
new
role
within
the
company
isn’t
seen
as
much
of
an
option.
Amazon
paused
corporate
hiring

last
November
as
part
of
wider
cost-cutting
efforts,
which
translates
into
fewer
job
openings
than
normal.
The
staffers
told
CNBC
they
weren’t
able
to
find
much,
if
anything,
in
their
current
office
that’s
relevant
to
their
expertise.

Still,
it’s
a
difficult
decision
to
quit,
as
companies,
particularly
in
the
tech
industry,
have
been
reducing
headcount
over
the
past
year
to
reckon
with
rising
inflation
and
economic
uncertainty.

The
crackdown
at
Amazon
is
leading
to
some
bending
of
the
rules.
In
a
story
last
week
about
some
of
the
RTO
changes,

Insider
reported
that
some
employees
have
considered
using
a
family
member’s
address
near
an
Amazon
office,
or
agreed
to
relocate
and
then
used
the
time
they
were
given
to
move
to
look
for
another
job.

The
Colorado-based
employee
who
was
asked
to
move
said
that,
adding
it
all
up,
the
relocation
requirement
and
Amazon’s
broader
effort
to
get
people
into
the
office
make
it
feel
as
if
leadership
is
“trying
to
make
it
less
enjoyable
to
work
there.”

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