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Interesting Work, Unstable Teams

Software Development Engineer (SDE)
Current Employee
Has worked at Amazon for 4 years
December 10, 2021
3.0
Pros

Work is fast-paced and interesting.

If you get a good manager, you can drive the direction of the team with good ideas and hard work. Everything at Amazon is manager-dependent. It can be a wonderful environment when you have a good team.

Cons

The company puts no effort into retaining good employees.

The compensation structure is misleading or predatory.

The promotion process is a nightmare and can take over a year, while interviewing for the same position takes a few hours.

It can be incredibly political, with managers trying to impress each other.

Teams are incredibly unstable, and reorganizations are common. At any moment, you could be forced under a team or manager that you don't like.

Operations loads (on-call) can be incredibly time-intensive, with no work-life balance when you're on call.

Advice to Management

Put more emphasis on retaining good employees.

Compensate top performers.

Make internal promotion as easy as external hiring.

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