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Great work environment, lagging in perks

Software Development Engineer II
Current Employee
Has worked at Amazon for 2 years
January 28, 2017
San Francisco, California
4.0
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEO
Pros

Small teams, ability to innovate, interesting problems, customer impact, respect for work/life balance (at least in SF office), quality colleagues.

Cons

Customer obsession sometimes comes at the expense of employee quality of life. If you inherit a buggy system and get stuck on-call often, things can be bleak.

Benefits are subpar. For example, they only match 401k contributions at 50% up to 6% of your salary, and you don't actually get that unless you stick around for 3 years.

On the other hand, they are proud that they offer the same benefits to people who work in fulfillment centers. So, you can be happy that the company is egalitarian while regretting that other tech workers are getting a few thousand more a year in untaxed retirement money than you are.

Advice to Management

I really buy into all of Amazon's Leadership Principles. However, remember that Customer Obsession can't come at the expense of employee sanity and happiness, otherwise the only people you'll be able to hire won't be able to make customers happy.

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