Amazon

• Shared tenets and principles align everyone on the same practices and level of commitment.
• No dead weight. No one (at least that I have encountered) has "slipped through the cracks." Very refreshing to work with skilled individuals with no sign of nepotism or the Peter Principle.
• Plenty of emphasis on work-life balance.
• Fantastic benefits and salary.

Politics. Not necessarily a con, as every company has its own politics. But if you struggle to navigate sensitive scenarios and take care in the words you use to get your point across, you will drown in the sea of clever professional parrying and cliché one-liners.

Not as many superficial benefits that most big-tech companies offer. No massive bonuses, huge gift baskets, or 9th-gen gaming consoles. You do your work for the love of the work. Amazon won't buy you with anything other than opportunity and a healthy salary.

I've heard there's bad management in areas of Amazon from sources outside of Amazon.

I've yet to see it. Nurturing, fair, and understanding management.

Maybe it could be dialed back a bit on the "drink the Kool-Aid" propaganda, but overall excellent management.

I can book a meeting with Andy Jassy, so I've been told. I haven't tried it, but that level of transparency exists, which is great.