Amazon is famous for using data to make decisions — except when it's forcing employees back to the office.
During a recent internal staff meeting, Mike Hopkins, SVP of Amazon Video and Studios, was asked if he had any data to share regarding the company's recent decision to mandate working from the office.
Hopkins said he had "no data either way" to show the effectiveness of in-office work versus remote work, according to a recording of the meeting obtained by Insider. Instead, he said it was important for employees to be back in the office because Amazon CEO Andy Jassy and other top executives at the company believe "we just do our best work when we're together."
Hopkins also pointed to one of Amazon's leadership principles that tells employees to "have backbone, and disagree and commit," which encourages full commitment once a decision is made, even if some people don't agree with it.
"I think it's just time, it's time to disagree and commit. We're here, we're back — it's working," he said. "I don't have data to back it up, but I know it's better."
Hopkins's comments have added to rising frustration among some Amazon employees over the company's return-to-office mandate. In February, Amazon announced that most employees would have to start working in the office at least three times a week, a reversal of last year's pledge to not force people back.
Some staffers are in favor of returning, but it's a hot-button issue at the internet giant. Last month, Amazon started forcing staff to relocate near central "hub" offices, or otherwise take a "voluntary resignation," further infuriating some workers, as Insider previously reported.
Following Hopkins's meeting, Amazon employees took to internal Slack channels to vent their concerns.
"What embarrassingly poor leadership," one person wrote.
Another suspected Amazon was intentionally hiding data, and said the RTO mandate was in conflict with the company's "Earth's best employer" commitment.
Citing a recent Amazon report with data about increased foot traffic and credit card transactions in Seattle, one employee said it made no sense that it couldn't collect any RTO-related data.
"There's a difference between 'there is no data' and 'we won't collect data,'" that person wrote.
Others poked fun at Amazon's insistence to stick to the "disagree and commit" principle, when many employees are not buying into it.
"Saying you 'disagree and commit' (or asking others to) when there is very little impact to you personally and great impact to someone else is not anything to be proud of, especially if you've done nothing to mitigate that impact," one of the people said.
Another person said invoking the "disagree and commit" principle in this case is like trying to "compel compliance while silencing dissent."
"He's the one who needs to disagree and commit here," one of the people said, referring to Jassy.
In an email to Insider, Amazon's spokesperson, Rob Munoz, said there's "more energy, collaboration, and connections happening" when employees are back in the office.
"We're happy with how the first few months of having more people back in the office have been. There's more energy, collaboration, and connections happening, and we've heard this from lots of employees and the businesses that surround our offices."
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