Is Amazon silently laying off employees? 'Silent sacking is a five-phase plan'

John McBride, a former Amazon engineer, suggests the company's return-to-office strategy is economically motivated.

Software engineer John McBride who used to work with Amazon Web Services (AWS) before quitting said that the tech giant is trying to reduce its workforce using its new work from office mandate. The Colorado-based engineer- who worked with Amazon for a year until June 2023- reflected on company CEO Andy Jassy's announcement of return to office rule and said that it should not have surprised anyone who has been paying attention to how the company has been functioning for years.

The Amazon logo is seen. Ex-AWS engineer John McBride asserts that Amazon's new office policy is part of a strategic five-phase plan to reduce costs and workforce. He highlights how the return-to-office mandate is primarily influenced by economic considerations. (AP)

He wrote, “Ultimately, it comes down to taxes and economics.” Talking about Amazon's five phase plan, John McBride said the first phase was laying off 30,000 employees, the second was starting return-to-office mandate and the third is “return to team” where employees had to work from offices where their team was physically located.

He said, “I went into the Denver office near me, a 20-minute commute.” Even John McBride had to move to Seattle as he said that “many, many people left during this phase. This is when I personally left in 2023 because I wouldn’t relocate to Seattle.”

After this was “silent sacking” which “If you managed to somehow stick around this long, your work life would be made incredibly unsatisfying and cumbersome: you'd be left out of in-person meetings, you'd be stiff-armed by management, you wouldn't be given interesting or meaningful work, etc. And finally, Phase 5: death of remote. Everyone must sit at a desk in a physical office where your team is located”, as per John McBride.

Amazon is trying to increase profit margins "now that spending and books across the economy are very tight. Amazon's strict return-to-office policy isn't just about fostering innovation or collaboration - it's a strategic move driven by macro and micro economics. By consolidating their workforce in physical offices, they're aiming to maximise tax incentives and reduce operational costs," he said.

He added, "In the end, Amazon's strict return-to-office policy isn't just about fostering innovation or collaboration - it's a strategic move driven by macro and micro economics. By consolidating their workforce in physical offices, they're aiming to maximize tax incentives and reduce operational costs."