Amazon

Amazon used to be a challenging but great place to work, with a ton of excellent people on exciting projects that impact real people. While the expectations were always high and not everything was perfect, there was optimism and enthusiasm in the air. These days, however, it has turned very sour.

Moral across the engineering teams at Amazon is at an all-time low. People are pissed that strong and reliable team members are being forced out due to RTO. Headcounts are being cut, and those left behind are pressured to do more with less. If you plan to join Amazon in a tech role, be prepared for unreasonable asks and forced compliance with mandates that are backward-thinking.

Don't believe you'll be able to WFH twice a week; they may very well change that policy to five days a week in the new year. The company has taken a very heartless stance on RTO, now using it as a punitive tool to punish anyone unable to relocate.

Raises will be tied to RTO, and promotions, which people worked hard to earn and have been approved by internal promo panels, are now being rejected due to RTO; effectively telling remote employees their contributions are not recognized or valued. Amazon does not care if you recently bought a house, have a family member unable to relocate, or would be financially disadvantaged by relocating; filling office space is more important to Amazon than employees' personal situations.

Middle managers have no power to effect change at Amazon and are stuck in a difficult position of enforcing mandates they do not believe in.

Senior leadership needs to recognize the impact their enforcement plans around RTO are having on teams and individuals.

Two years ago, I would have said I planned to be at Amazon for another 10 years. Today, I am glad to be leaving, and I would never encourage anyone else to join what has become a toxic and emotionally draining swamp.