All Amazon Employees Will Use Slack Software When Working From Home

Remote work has its pros and cons. It’s too difficult to say whether it’s better or not. But one thing is for sure – we need communication, true/physical communication. During these days, when all were locked in our homes, various communication software companies were trying to offer better products. Even those that have not been focusing on this before, brought way better products. This statement is true for Facebook, Microsoft, Google, etc. But what about those companies that need more? Say, how Amazon had to cope with this? On Thursday, Amazon announced a new strategic cooperation agreement signed with Slack. Based on the new cooperation agreement, all Amazon employees can use Slack’s workplace communication tools.

Also Read: Five Open Source Alternatives To Slack

At the same time, Slack also digs deep into Amazon Web Services (AWS, Amazon Web Services) technology, updates video conferencing capabilities, and makes full use of the AWS service called Chime.

Amazon Chime is a communications service that lets you meet, chat, and place business calls inside and outside your organization, all using a single application. Developers can use the same communications infrastructure and services that power Amazon Chime, and add audio calling, video calling, and screen sharing capabilities directly to their applications using the Amazon Chime SDK.

With many companies and schools seeking software to hold remote meetings during the new coronavirus outbreak, in recent months, compared with Slack, Microsoft Team communication service has become very popular. In this sense, the alliance between Amazon and Slack will allow the two companies to compete with Microsoft.

Although many company employees work from home, Slack’s business growth during the epidemic has remained stable and has not increased. Earlier Thursday, Slack revealed the company’s first-quarter earnings report, after the company’s stock price fell 15%.

Amazon and Slack Relations

Amazon has had a long history with Slack. Since Amazon launched Amazon Web Services (AWS) in 2014, Slack has been running on its platform and has been relying on AWS to meet other needs during the outbreak.

Slack said the new agreement between the two parties is independent of Slack’s cloud service contract, but declined to disclose specific terms. On Thursday, a document revealed that Slack would pay at least $425 million for AWS. The cooperation period is 5 years. As of April 2025, it has increased from the previously promised cooperation period to 2023 with an amount of at least $250 million.

Some Amazon teams have started using Slack. But now, the cooperation agreement will include all employees. By the way, Amazon is the second-largest private-sector employer in the United States, with more than 840,000 full-time and part-time employees in the first quarter.