[theduder99]

"During the meeting, which is known in internal Amazon lingo as a “fishbowl” meeting, Jassy declined to share data that motivated his decision to require employees to return to the office. The CEO told his charges it was a “judgment” call."

[cadence-]

I suspect a big part of the decision is the investment Amazon made in the real estate. It's also possible they have some favorable tax deals with the cities they operate in, given how much money their employees spend at local businesses near their offices.

Remember the craziness that ensued a few years ago when they announced that they are going to choose a city to build their second HQ based on tax and other incentives they would receive from the local governments? They would not be able to generate such a frenzy if their workforce was allowed to work remotely.

They are basically stuck with the office culture at this point.

[sharadov]

Yes cities are offering tax deals to companies - as they are getting hollowed out and depend mainly on corporate property taxes to stay afloat

[clipsy]

Typical executive hubris; engineers can’t wipe their ass unless they spend 6 months gathering data on which TP to use, but an exec wants to upend thousands of employees‘ lives? No data necessary, of course!

[derbOac]

Alternatively, there is data, but he doesn't want to cite it, as it would reveal the actual, underlying reason for the decision, and he doesn't want to admit to it.