I'm a 64-year-old Amazon employee. Retirement wasn't even on my radar, but I'm being forced to leave due to RTO mandates.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Lee Ann Million, a 64-year-old executive assistant at Amazon of nearly 14 years who lives in northern Michigan. Business Insider has verified Million's employment history. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
I've been an executive assistant at Amazon since 2011. In June, I would've celebrated my 14th year.
My role is to get the leaders I work for where they need to be — a meeting, a country, whatever — as quickly and as efficiently as I can. I handle their calendars, manage their projects, track their goals, and wrangle their teams. The relationship between an EA and the leader they work for is one of the most critical to how an organization operates.
I worked in virtual roles for seven years before the RTO push started in February 2023, so my manager at the time and I didn't think the mandate would have any impact on me.
Instead, after receiving two remote work exceptions, April 30 will be my last day at Amazon.
I'm not leaving voluntarily; as far as I'm concerned, they're firing me. I'm a good employee. My performance review this year said I significantly exceeded expectations. I've given the company 100% of myself for 14 years; to have to leave is demoralizing and perplexing.
I loved working at Amazon — then RTO happened
I love how you can reinvent yourself at Amazon. I've had the chance to have a bunch of different careers and get exposure to many different teams. When I started, I worked out of Seattle HQ for five years on the Kindle Fire launch team. In my first three months, it felt like all I did was run around — it was a great, electric time to be at Amazon.
In 2016, my oldest daughter became ill, and I needed to move to Indiana to be closer to family. Soon after that, I was able to start working virtually and was successful at doing so.
When three-day RTO was announced in February 2023, I found a house in Michigan and had to submit a change of address request. My request was rejected immediately because of RTO, and my HR rep instructed me to complete a remote work exception form.
My manager, who's also a virtual employee, and I went back and forth with HR to explain that I was already a virtual employee, but we still filled out the form.
I offered to work out of the Chicago office to stay on my team, since I have family there, but I was only given the option to move to Seattle or Washington, D.C., which wasn't feasible for me.
In November 2023, my change of address request was approved by the VP of my organization — with the caveat that I retire in August 2024.
It felt completely out of the blue. I was like, "Who said anything about retiring?" Retire is a very ageist word. After several more conversations with HR in July 2024 — a month before I was supposed to leave — they ended up extending my remote work exception until April 30 of this year.
When I realized the end was coming, I thought they could at least bridge the gap
I kept thinking somebody would change things. I've even tried to find other virtual roles within Amazon. There was one role that felt like it was made for me: It was fully virtual, and they were looking for someone with a lot of soft skills and relationship-building strengths, which I've been recognized for in the past. I had several informational chats, but then they went dark on me.
Earlier this year, I realized, Oh my God, I'm a few months away and no one's intervening on my behalf.
I thought that maybe Amazon could at least bridge the 11-month gap until I turn 65 next year and become eligible for Medicare.
In my view, it'd be like a severance package, allowing me to delay taking my Social Security and maintain my insurance without having to pay for COBRA. I also have 38 shares of stock that vest in May and 37 shares that vest in November.
In February, I tried emailing an Amazon HR executive to ask about bridging the gap. It's not unusual for Amazon employees to reach out to leaders directly.
I was hurt and disappointed that she never replied to my email, though another HR staff member reached out and extended my termination date to June 1. The last day I'll work will still be April 30, giving me an additional month of salary, two months of insurance, and my 38 shares of stock that vest in May.
My adult daughter is disabled, and Amazon has kept her on my insurance past the age of 26, which I'm forever grateful for. Losing my insurance in two months is what scares me more than anything.
Amazon has been very good to me. But I just find it cold-hearted, in the grand scheme of things, for them not to bridge the 11-month gap for someone who's been there for 14 years, to get me to Medicare and give my daughter a little more time. I also won't get my 37 shares that would vest in November.
I'll have to accept a permanent reduction in my monthly Social Security payment since I'm taking it out earlier than planned. I'm waiting on my final estimate from the Social Security Administration, but as of today, it looks like it'll be almost $600 less than if I worked until I was 67.
Amazon didn't used to be this cold; something has changed. There are so many good things about Amazon, and it's sad that this is how it's playing out.
Retirement wasn't on my radar
I've always worked and supported my three daughters as a single mom, and I still help them. When my income stops, then my ability to help them — especially my disabled daughter — stops too. As long as I could work virtually, my plan was to keep going; retirement really wasn't on my radar.
I'm fortunate that I love what I do. I just wish I could keep doing it. You can love your company and not the decisions that are being made; that's kind of how I feel.
Sticking my head in the sand isn't a plan, so I've got to figure something out. I think my age is absolutely going to play a factor — I'm a 14-year high-performing employee and can't even get Amazon to hire me into another role. So I'm not optimistic about finding a role like this one externally.
More than anything, I need to nurture myself a little bit. I'm healthy and can work. If I need to go work at the grocery store or at McDonald's or something, that's fine. I'll figure it out.
A spokesperson for Amazon said in a statement: "Ms. Million's alleged experience doesn't represent the experiences of the vast majority of employees at the company. And while we don't normally share details about an individual's situation, because Ms. Million's account lacks important details and context, we're compelled to share some facts to ensure the record is accurate. We informed Ms. Million in 2023 that we'd be asking her to relocate and join her colleagues in working from the office, and we worked with her directly to address her specific requests over the years — including extending her virtual location exception on three separate occasions. We continue to believe that the advantages of being together in the office are significant, and when in-person accommodations are needed, we provide them."
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