Amazon

• Starting pay was decent but had low pay increases. Good bonus for the first two years. Equity is great because the stock is doing so well. Fun conferences and many learning opportunities.

• The Amazon brand, saying that you worked here (it matters for some people/companies). I got an offer from Microsoft largely due to the rivalry and brand. I turned them down. I got calls from Google too, which I didn’t pursue.

• Scheming culture - There are a lot of smart people, but there are also a lot of untalented schemers who get ahead by sucking up and bad-mouthing others behind their back. The culture makes it very difficult to form a network.

• Bad middle management - You’re working with many A-types, especially in the middle management ranks. Middle management is not transparent and always scheming. They will backstab you and throw you under the bus at the first chance they get, if it means saving their own skin and if you’re not part of the “in” crowd. There is zero feedback or appreciation from middle management.

• Non-commission based work - Support multiple commission-based, non-technical Account Managers where they make big money (via commissions) and you do the hard work and burn out.

• No teams, just groups - They try to mold you into a technical widget so you can potentially be easily replaced. The culture promotes isolation and lack of synergy, all individual contributor work. They want you to know as little as possible outside of your tunnel vision.

• Just building block services that are costly - A strong IaaS player, but bad when it comes to SaaS or PaaS models. Many new services are MVP, and waiting for features of interest can be a long wait. They put a spin on low costs and utility-style billing, but seeing the bills of many customers are anything but cheap. AWS is always in competition with everyone, which creates a lack of trust. The customers don’t always come out on top, and the product is not always rock-solid.

1. Change your culture to focus on employees; don't treat them like widgets.
2. Replace your middle management with people who actually like to manage.
3. Reduce the levels of middle management; address the culture of backstabbing.