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Not Perfect, but Better than Most

Software Engineer II
Current Employee
Has worked at Amazon for 2 years
August 19, 2023
5.0
RecommendsNeutral OutlookApproves of CEO
Pros

Customer obsession. If you're smart enough not to get trapped in the politics of the "bureaucratic middle," you can find a lot of agency for building and delivering valuable products.

Cons

A lot of SOPs make prototyping harder than it should be, but they are usually there for good reasons.

DEI culture creates pockets of adolescent mentality adults, sometimes feeling you've stepped into a kindergarten or mental clinic, but it's not nearly as bad as the big ones (and little ones) from SF.

Advice to Management

Beware of bloated middle management, particularly promoting engineers past their level of incompetence as managers and leaders.

Take it easy with DEI. In a couple of years, you're going to be wishing the people that stayed in the company stayed for merit and not for some professionally-unrelated characteristic. The latter tend to be entitled and have zero customer obsession; they believe the company exists to deliver value to them, not to deliver value to customers and society.

Additional Ratings

Work/Life Balance
5.0
Culture and Values
4.0
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
1.0
Career Opportunities
5.0
Compensation and Benefits
5.0
Senior Management
4.0

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