Amazon

My work-life balance was fairly good up until RTO, which is not the most common experience, but it was for my team.

Pay is good.

At the time of my joining, there was a decent rate of hiring for interns and juniors, so it was a good stepping stone for careers.

Very few opportunities given or encouraged to improve skills.

RTO policy is poorly implemented. You must come in 3 days a week, even if those days aren't the same as the rest of your team, which defeats the entire purpose of RTO.

A pervasive culture of fear. I have never met a coworker who is willing to talk about PIP, let alone salary. I have rarely seen people openly criticize any decision by management.

Stack ranking lets go of good employees for sometimes no good reason.

1. Evaluate why you want RTO and if the current system meets those needs.
2. Promote a better culture of openness.
3. PIPing people every year is not raising the bar; it's an ultimatum that demands improvement without fostering growth.