Great autonomy and competitive pay, but heavy workload - Software Development Engineer (SDE) Amazon Employee Review

1.0
17 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Massive scale — you work on problems most companies will never see, and the resume signal is real. - Strong internal mobility; transfers between teams and orgs are common once you're in. - Compensation is competitive at senior levels, with meaningful RSU refreshers if you perform. - Ownership culture means you get autonomy early — no one is holding your hand, for better or worse.

Cons

- On-call and operational load is heavy; work-life balance depends entirely on your team and manager. - Frugality principle shows up in tooling, travel, and perks — expect less polish than peer FAANGs. - Stack-ranking and PIP culture (URA/Focus) creates real anxiety, especially in years 2–3 when RSUs cliff. - Bureaucracy and doc-writing overhead (6-pagers, narratives) can slow execution to a crawl.

Explore other reviews about Amazon

5.0
21 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Schedules are beneficial to fit most needs

Cons

Communicating can be hard at times

5.0
10 Jan 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Really smart people, a lot of opportunity for growth, always encouraged to be innovative, think big, and create something new. Competitive salary and benefits with other major tech companies. 100% self motivating work environment. No dress code and 4 legged friends are welcome.

Cons

You have to be self motivated. NO ONE will hold your hand and tell you that you're doing a great job. If you need constant affirmations from management, this company isn't for you.

3159
See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All