Taro Logo

Burn and churn isn't good!

Software Development Manager
Current Employee
Has worked at Amazon for less than 1 year
September 2, 2008
Seattle, Washington
2.0
Doesn't RecommendDoesn't Approve of CEO
Pros

You work with some really good people. You work on large-scale problems and can learn a lot about distributed systems.

There's a lot of good automated infrastructure to help you get your job done.

Cons

There's a definite work-life balance conflict. Standard practice seems to lean toward over-hiring for positions with duties inappropriate for backgrounds.

Infrastructure isn't complete. While there's great infrastructure for build/deploy, the complications of the systems cause lots of development down-time and a lot of home-grown, in-team solutions. Given the high requirements on individual teams, the amount of team-to-team sharing is pretty small.

Advice to Management

Be very clear on roles and empowerment before recruiting!

Think hard about how you can build an effective organization that people want to work at and enjoy working while they are there. Burn and churn is a horrible way to run an organization.

Was this helpful?

Amazon Interview Experiences