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Good pay, terrible deadlines and upper leadership

SDE 1
Former Employee
Worked at Amazon for 4 years
May 23, 2026
Seattle, WA
3.0
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookDoesn't Approve of CEO
Pros

There is good pay and healthcare.

There are 50/50 odds of decent work, which is highly dependent on which team you join.

There are great teammates, for the most part.

Cons

There was terrible upper leadership with no technical background. They forced AI usage even when it was proven to be useless in some projects. Employees were overworked with awful expectations that forced fast delivery, but at the same time wanted no bugs. For some reason, upper leadership couldn't understand that quality code and slightly less rushed deadlines would fix this.

Layoffs were diabolical, and managers didn't even know who got nuked until the morning of, when the employees were missing. This happened regardless of performance, by the way, but low performers were targeted first.

Additional Ratings

Work/Life Balance
2.0
Culture and Values
2.0
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
4.0
Career Opportunities
4.0
Compensation and Benefits
4.0
Senior Management
1.0

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