Amazon

Smart people doing cool stuff in a lot of different areas. Peculiar ways may seem strange at first, but [it's] a great learning experience. Lots of opportunity on paper.

1. The constant pressure – not a place if you have a family or any other sort of life.

2. Frugality – used to justify being tight, while burning money by not being clever.

3. Pay – the stock vesting schedule and the 401(k) matching vesting are designed around the assumption you will quit before 2 years are up, so all those promises are worthless. Sadly, thanks to #1, the turnover seems to average at under 18 months. Healthcare, compared to others in the industry, also sucks.

4. Promotion and transfer are really difficult despite what they say.

5. Outsourcing everything to India... helps #2, but nothing else.

Constant turnover is not a good thing. A wiki does not even begin to approach having real experience. Easy up on people a little. Seriously, pay people better and stop boasting about how many billionaire VPs there are. Knowing it'll take a decade to get there with stock vesting schedules isn't motivating.