Amazon wanted me to move across the country to return to office. I left $200,000 in unvested stock options on the table when I quit.

• I was an Amazon software-development manager for more than 3 ½ years.
• Earlier this year, I was told I had to relocate to Seattle from the East Coast to keep my job.
• I quit, leaving more than $200,000 in unvested stock options rather than returning to the office.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with a former Amazon software-development manager, who said he worked with the company for nearly four years and quit after being given a return-to-office order that would have required him to move across the country to keep his job. His identity was verified by Insider, and he has been granted anonymity due to concerns of professional backlash.

I enjoyed my work at Amazon. For more than 3 ½ years as a software-development manager, I was excited about the work we were doing and the team I was building. If it wasn’t for their crackdown on their return-to-office policy, I would still be there with bells on and a smile on my face.