A place to build your resume and leave after 2 years - Software Development Engineer II Amazon Employee Review

2.0
May 2, 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

* Super smart people * Lots of things to learn

Cons

* Bad work-life balance * unpaid oncall and extra hours * unrealistic expectations from employees * extreme operational load. Too little software engineering, and too much of dealing with fires in legacy systems. * management is too focused on deliver results and frugality, and not in any other leadership principle. If you show good ownership or high standards, that won't matter in your performance review. * management doesn't care about your career path, and your own interests. You'll be assigned tasks that don't motivate you forever, because people with more tenure in the team will be able to finish "interesting tasks" faster. * Performance reviews are not fair: you might get bad performance just because someone needs to get it, even if you meet all the required criteria for a good performance * Compensation adjustment is not fair: you'll find people in the exact same position and team as you, who were hired some months later, and they earn between 10% and 35% more. Even if you have the maximum performance possible, your increase in one year won't be more than 5%, so you will need to be working 10 hours per day for 5 years to reach the same compensation. * no flexibility in terms of time off: management will reject petitions to work from another city/country, take more than 2 weeks in a row of vacation, or change oncall shifts to allow you to travel. * very little perks compared to other tech companies (no food, no gym, small discount, almost nothing can be expensed) * for a place that calls itself inclusive, there are less than 10 women, and no black people in a team of ~100.

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5.0
Jun 27, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good managers, huge focus on safety and making sure you're doing well.

Cons

You have to get your own lunch as free lunch is rarely provided.

5.0
Jan 10, 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
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