Area Manager - Area Manager Amazon Employee Review

4.0
May 8, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

*Very competitive total compensation *for most AMs, 3 days off per week *Amazon years are like dog years in gaining industry experience *Huge growth creates many opportunities if willing to move *Encouraged to find solutions to processes whenever you see fit - it is not difficult to create changes that save the company $$ and talk about in future interviews.

Cons

A lot of the reviews here are people who are just mad at life. There are definitely cons to the job and I will describe them below, but if your review has 5 words under Pros and 5000 words under Cons, then quit your job. Stop being so negative. Overall this job is what you make of it. *Work life balance can be tough, depending on site/department/shift/peak. For the average AM for 9 months of the year, you will work four 12-hour shifts and have 3 days off. During peak you will work between 60-80 hours for 2 months. A shift is either Sunday-Wednesday or Wednesday-Saturday, so you will work 1 weekend day but still have a good amount of time off most weeks. Once in a while you may come in for OT or have to work from home to catch up on projects. *It can be high stress. There is change every day. If you take 2 weeks off and come back, the FC may be completely different. It is a constant challenge keeping up with all of the continuous improvement projects, delivering weekly feedback to your associates, hitting goal numbers, engaging your team and earning their trust, and delivering any last second projects given by Sr. Leadership simultaneously. *HR can sometimes be a drain, depending on the HR rep. I have had some that take associates' words over your own, and would not do anything when an associate flat out said "no" to me. There are also very good HR reps that will support you like they should. Get to know them well that way they are good teammates to have in case of HR complaints. (every AM gets them from time to time). One of my Ops has told me that HR has a greater hold on whether a manager promotes than in any other company he has been in in his 20 year career. HR can make or break you in Amazon fulfillment. Be friends with them and if issues come up, work with them on fixing it right away. *Sr Leadership and your manager will also make or break your job experience. If you have a really bad manager, your job will likely suck. If you have a fantastic people manager, you may love your job. I've had 3 different Ops managers in the past 2 years and I liked all 3. I have probably been yelled at once in my two years here, but I have seen some AMs who were not performing get some strong words from Sr. Ops every few weeks. It just all depends if you can deliver or not. *Force-ranking: AMs are indeed force-ranked, so if you are in the bottom group for level 4s or 5s you will be noted as "Development Needed" and you may or may not survive. In my 2 years here I have seen a few AMs get managed out, a few more quit, and many transfer to different sites. The majority of attrition at my site is simply transferring to different opportunities within Amazon. Overall, I love my job and plan to stay here a while. I enjoy coming to work and look at new ways to improve processes. I am happy with the compensation, and even though there is a lot of stress and sometimes a lot of hours, it is well worth it to me. I hope this review helps you see through some of the negative nancy reviews who would probably say the same thing about every job in their lives, and instead give you a real perspective of what to expect from the role.

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5.0
Mar 31, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
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Pros

Pay was really good for the area

Cons

Long hours to work to survive

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.

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