Exodus of Blue Origin’s top staff followed its CEO’s request for all staff to return to office, reports show

• Blue Origin’s talent drain followed the pressure to return all staff to the office, CNBC reported.

• Sources told the outlet on Friday that the company’s attrition rate exceeded 20%.

• A spokesperson for Blue Origin said the rate was similar to that of other companies, amid the “Big Resignation.”

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Blue Origin’s recent loss of many high-level employees follows a call for all employees to return to the office.

Several sources told CNBC that the departures directly reflected pressure from CEO Bob Smith to end remote working across the company.

Sources also said the company’s attrition rate exceeded 20% for this year.

A spokesperson for Blue Origin told CNBC that attrition “has never exceeded 12.7%” on an annualized rate, which measures employee departures over the past 12 months. Typically, Blue Origin’s annual turnover rate is 8-9%, according to people familiar with the matter.

“We are seeing attrition rates comparable to those reported by other companies in what many are calling ‘the big resignation’,” the spokesperson said.

Blue Origin did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

Earlier this year, 17 of Blue Origin’s top staff left the company, many of whom left in the weeks after founder Jeff Bezos flew into space, Insider’s Kevin Shalvey reported.

According to a previous CNBC report, those who left the space company included New Shepard senior vice president Steve Bennett, mission insurance chief Jeff Ashby and senior recruiting director Crystal Freund.

Some departures were noteworthy because of their timing. They followed an announcement that SpaceX would be awarded a $ 2.9 billion contract for a lunar lander for Artemis missions.

Friday’s CNBC report noted that the plan for all employees to return to the office in September, known as the “Blue Back Together” initiative, has ruffled feathers.

Hundreds of workers signed a petition asking the company to at least implement a more flexible work model, but this was never acknowledged by Smith, according to the report.

The story continues

CNBC said the views of its anonymous sources mirrored in many ways those of 21 current and former Blue Origin employees who posted an open letter alleging a toxic, sexist and dangerous work culture.

Insider’s Sinéad Baker and Grace Kay reported that the letter also accused Bezos of sacrificing security in an effort to win the billionaire space race.

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