Terrible Management - Software Development Engineer Amazon Employee Review

1.0
30 Jul 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I got in early so I made money with the stock options. And I needed a job at that time and they gave me one. I also got to build the core software that keeps track of how many things are available for sale at a given moment. I learned a lot from an older co worker about the fungibilty of inventory, the theory of item is promised to a customer at a point of time, etc. How to build a system that is resilient to outages, bad data, data that is stale etc. I also liked most of the engineers I worked with. If you work here, you will be given tasks that at other companies would go to older and more experienced workers. The reason is that at the pay rate, those folks have left. or wouldn't join as they have other options.

Cons

After a few years it became apparent that they didn't want trained managers, but instead just "yes people." No amount of suggestions that they run the new managers through training seemed to be heard. Pager duty, you will come to hate it. If you have no life, you might not notice, but if you have a family they will hate it. It's what house arrest is all about. Oh sure you can go out, but you need to start working on a page within 20 minutes and not leave it until it's resolved. Try explaining that to your kids why you just packed them up from the park. Or your SO, why you need to get a box to go for dinner. Pay rates, They have a 2 and a 4 year plan. That's because that's the length of time you need to wait for that first vesting of stock and signing bonus and the majority of that first grant. Stack ranking, or rat on your co-workers to try and keep your job during review time. They cut the bottom 5% no matter how good they are in comparison to the rest of the world. They give PIP's to the bottom 10% (Ie threaten them), no raises to the bottom 20%. So if you have a group of 100, even though the company spent thousands on hiring them, waiting until they actually figured out how to do anything useful, training on the internal systems, they toss them right back out. What a waste of money. (It also demoralizes the team for a month or so every review cycle.) If you want a better written review of the place, go find that NYTimes article, it was spot on.

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5.0
3 Jul 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Hands on mentorship; enough resources

Cons

Little research, more engineering work

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.

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