Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) CEO Andy Jassy has addressed the ongoing resistance from employees regarding the company’s return-to-office policy. In a pre-recorded internal Q&A session held earlier this month, Jassy emphasized the importance of adhering to the policy and invoked Amazon’s leadership principle of “disagree and commit.”

Jassy conveyed that it was time for employees to move beyond disagreement and fully commit to the policy, which stipulates that corporate employees are required to be present in the office three days a week. The CEO’s remarks highlighted the notion that Amazon values a culture where employees can express differing opinions but ultimately align with the company’s directives.

The phrase “disagree and commit” has historical significance within Amazon’s leadership philosophy and was frequently used by the company’s founder and current executive chairman, Jeff Bezos.

Jassy noted that those unable to embrace the principle of “disagree and commit” might not find their tenure at Amazon to be conducive to their professional growth. He emphasized the need for consistency, stating that it would be inequitable for some employees to follow the three-day office presence while others abstained.

This announcement comes after Amazon introduced the current office attendance mandate in February, which took effect in May. The mandate represents a departure from the previous approach, wherein team leaders could determine their teams’ work arrangements. Amazon clarified that the prior policy wasn’t intended to be the norm, referencing a 2021 blog post by Jassy in which he mentioned the company’s intention to adapt based on evolving insights.

In the memo disclosing the updated policy, Jassy explained that the decision was informed by pandemic experiences and consultations with leaders from other companies. He highlighted the S-team’s consensus that in-person interactions fostered higher engagement and smoother collaboration.

Despite these considerations, numerous employees remain unconvinced. In May, a lunchtime demonstration at Amazon’s Seattle headquarters saw hundreds of employees protesting the new policy. An internal Slack channel advocating for remote work had amassed around 33,000 members at the time.

Certain employees have also requested data to substantiate Jassy’s assertions. In response, Jassy indicated that leadership had examined available data, noting that remote meetings were perceived as less effective than in-person meetings. He acknowledged instances where major decisions were made without perfect data, citing Amazon’s ventures into areas like the online marketplace for sellers and its cloud computing unit, AWS.

In a separate development in July, Amazon introduced a policy mandating that some employees in smaller offices relocate to larger main offices in major cities, as reported by various media outlets.

Amazon’s workforce comprises 1.4 million individuals globally, although the breakdown between office-based and other roles, such as warehouse and site work, is unspecified.

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