6 ms·

Current (long tenured, moderately senior) AWS engineer here. I've been at the company long enough it's pretty clear that I'm a "good culture fit", so take what

Current (long tenured, moderately senior) AWS engineer here. I've been at the company long enough it's pretty clear that I'm a "good culture fit", so take what I'm saying with that in mind. While I absolutely believe that there are pockets of the company that work this way, more because of sheer scale than anything systemic, I have sat in the annual ratings meeting for engineers enough times, in enough organizations within the company, that I am pretty confident that this experience isn't universal. It sucks that this author had this experience, and I wish they had said which team that was, so that I could use what social cachet I have to steer people clear of it from inside. Nobody should have that experience.

exikyut 5y ago
> steer people clear of it from inside What's really needed here is a way to maintain super-scale in a way that is, shall we say, "eventually morally consistent". Applying selection theory, if you create a pocket of badness wrapped in a function that reliably extracts all the good out of it... well all you'll be left with is a local maximum of even more suffering. Yeow. Of course, designing and maintaining such social structures seems close to P=NP in complexity...
- rantwasp 5y ago
  tell me about a time you delivered awesome results while operating out of a pocket of badness
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
rantwasp 5y ago
It’s a thing. The author was not unlucky. It’s actually a thing (I worked in AWS, I have heard this from several managers, some which actually had trouble struggling with how stupid the system is). You have a team of X engineers and you want to grow. You hire a couple more. The current engineers have 0 incentives to help the new ones. Most people don’t have the chops (technical or emotional) to go up against a whole team. Come review time, what do you think is going to happen? As a boss will you let go someone who’s been there for 5 years and knows the service inside out or the new guy who seems to be struggling. Not all people are jerks, and there are good pockets (but mostly the deck is stacked against you when you join). Also, IMHO Amazon is going to have a really hard time hiring people with the reputation they created for themselves.
- Popegaf 5y ago
  > Also, IMHO Amazon is going to have a really hard time hiring people with the reputation they created for themselves. The majority cares about money and convenience. If people really cared about reputation then Riot Games, Microsoft, Tesla, Facebook, that big ride sharing company whose name slipped my mind, Shell, and lots of other companies, would be struggling to hire.
  - rantwasp 5y ago
    hmm. Do Microsoft or Tesla pay well? Last time I interviewed at M$ I had to turn down their offer because of how bad the comp was.
    - dralley 5y ago
      I don't know about Microsoft, but Tesla is well known for having terrible compensation.
      - decafninja 5y ago
        Does Tesla give out heavily subsidized (or even free) cars to employees? Had a friend who worked at Mercedes Benz corporate and he could pretty much pick any non-AMG car in rotating 6-month leases. The monthly lease payment for him to lease a SL550 (a six figure convertible) was about the same as leasing a Honda Civic. Seems other car companies do similar programs for their employees.
    - throwaway2757 5y ago
      Microsoft really only pays comparatively at each end of the spectrum, so for new grads out of college and people who have Wikipedia articles. For the majority of people in their career (the Seniors and Principals/Staffs) MS pays significantly worse than other FAANG-type companies, often being well under half in terms of stock compensation for example. The company is well aware of this as it's constantly brought up in all-hands (both within individual departments as well as at the all-company level), and they always respond with "we've done research and we believe we actually do pay comparatively in this market segment".
atopuzov 5y ago
I'll tell you mine, L7. Seen and experienced personally things the author describes.
- amazon_throw 5y ago
  Like I said, I don't doubt that they happen, but given that you've also left the company and seem to have hit one of these areas of toxicity yourself, I'm not surprised you'd think so. Who was your last manager? I'm curious if it's anybody I know?
  - hitekker 5y ago
    This went from "weird, defensive throwaway" to "possible Amazon HR agent" in 5 seconds. I think asking for the name of someone's former manager on a public forum without giving any details in return is pretty suspect. For those who aren't already aware, Amazon has a history of covertly paying its employees to "represent" the company in social media: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26636021 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26636021
    - ixaxaar 5y ago
      > It sucks that this author had this experience, and I wish they had said which team that was, so that I could use what social cachet I have to steer people clear of it from inside. Nobody should have that experience. "I have soft power". Suspicious indeed.
      - amazon_throw 5y ago
        No, far from it; I'm not HR, nowhere close, but I am senior enough that people sometimes listen to me. I'd like to make things better for people if I can, and part of that is "knowing where the problems are". Believe me or don't, it's no skin off my ass, but that's the opposite of my goal.
        Immune 5y ago
teawrecks 5y ago
This isn't the first time I've read about Amazon's 30% mandatory turnover rate, how it effects new hires mentally when they can't help but think they might be fired at any moment, and how it effects the ones who actually did get fired. This sounds like the definition of a systemic problem.
fridif 5y ago
>steer people clear of that org Um, shouldn't we fix the org instead!!! Very glad that I've been denied from Amazon final round twice now. It was great interview practice and nothing more
salil999 5y ago
I didn't reveal my team to maintain some form of anonymity. If you're an L8 or above then you may have some power to do what you said. Otherwise I don't think it'll make a difference.

exikyut 5y ago

> steer people clear of it from inside What's really needed here is a way to maintain super-scale in a way that is, shall we say, "eventually morally consistent". Applying selection theory, if you create a pocket of badness wrapped in a function that reliably extracts all the good out of it... well all you'll be left with is a local maximum of even more suffering. Yeow. Of course, designing and maintaining such social structures seems close to P=NP in complexity...

rantwasp 5y ago
tell me about a time you delivered awesome results while operating out of a pocket of badness
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

rantwasp 5y ago

It’s a thing. The author was not unlucky. It’s actually a thing (I worked in AWS, I have heard this from several managers, some which actually had trouble struggling with how stupid the system is). You have a team of X engineers and you want to grow. You hire a couple more. The current engineers have 0 incentives to help the new ones. Most people don’t have the chops (technical or emotional) to go up against a whole team. Come review time, what do you think is going to happen? As a boss will you let go someone who’s been there for 5 years and knows the service inside out or the new guy who seems to be struggling. Not all people are jerks, and there are good pockets (but mostly the deck is stacked against you when you join). Also, IMHO Amazon is going to have a really hard time hiring people with the reputation they created for themselves.

Popegaf 5y ago
> Also, IMHO Amazon is going to have a really hard time hiring people with the reputation they created for themselves. The majority cares about money and convenience. If people really cared about reputation then Riot Games, Microsoft, Tesla, Facebook, that big ride sharing company whose name slipped my mind, Shell, and lots of other companies, would be struggling to hire.
- rantwasp 5y ago
  hmm. Do Microsoft or Tesla pay well? Last time I interviewed at M$ I had to turn down their offer because of how bad the comp was.
  - dralley 5y ago
    I don't know about Microsoft, but Tesla is well known for having terrible compensation.
    - decafninja 5y ago
      Does Tesla give out heavily subsidized (or even free) cars to employees? Had a friend who worked at Mercedes Benz corporate and he could pretty much pick any non-AMG car in rotating 6-month leases. The monthly lease payment for him to lease a SL550 (a six figure convertible) was about the same as leasing a Honda Civic. Seems other car companies do similar programs for their employees.
  - throwaway2757 5y ago
    Microsoft really only pays comparatively at each end of the spectrum, so for new grads out of college and people who have Wikipedia articles. For the majority of people in their career (the Seniors and Principals/Staffs) MS pays significantly worse than other FAANG-type companies, often being well under half in terms of stock compensation for example. The company is well aware of this as it's constantly brought up in all-hands (both within individual departments as well as at the all-company level), and they always respond with "we've done research and we believe we actually do pay comparatively in this market segment".

atopuzov 5y ago

I'll tell you mine, L7. Seen and experienced personally things the author describes.

amazon_throw 5y ago
Like I said, I don't doubt that they happen, but given that you've also left the company and seem to have hit one of these areas of toxicity yourself, I'm not surprised you'd think so. Who was your last manager? I'm curious if it's anybody I know?
- hitekker 5y ago
  This went from "weird, defensive throwaway" to "possible Amazon HR agent" in 5 seconds. I think asking for the name of someone's former manager on a public forum without giving any details in return is pretty suspect. For those who aren't already aware, Amazon has a history of covertly paying its employees to "represent" the company in social media: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26636021 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26636021
  - ixaxaar 5y ago
    > It sucks that this author had this experience, and I wish they had said which team that was, so that I could use what social cachet I have to steer people clear of it from inside. Nobody should have that experience. "I have soft power". Suspicious indeed.
    - amazon_throw 5y ago
      No, far from it; I'm not HR, nowhere close, but I am senior enough that people sometimes listen to me. I'd like to make things better for people if I can, and part of that is "knowing where the problems are". Believe me or don't, it's no skin off my ass, but that's the opposite of my goal.
      - Immune 5y ago

teawrecks 5y ago

This isn't the first time I've read about Amazon's 30% mandatory turnover rate, how it effects new hires mentally when they can't help but think they might be fired at any moment, and how it effects the ones who actually did get fired. This sounds like the definition of a systemic problem.

fridif 5y ago

>steer people clear of that org Um, shouldn't we fix the org instead!!! Very glad that I've been denied from Amazon final round twice now. It was great interview practice and nothing more

salil999 5y ago

I didn't reveal my team to maintain some form of anonymity. If you're an L8 or above then you may have some power to do what you said. Otherwise I don't think it'll make a difference.