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I feel like most of these stories are just coming out recently, in the last year or so. Maybe things hit a tipping point during the pandemic? I interviewed the

I feel like most of these stories are just coming out recently, in the last year or so. Maybe things hit a tipping point during the pandemic? I interviewed there about 4.5 years ago, and I didn't know any of this, and while there were a few red flags, they seemed mostly around their recruiting process and not with the job itself- at least until my onsite where my interview became almost outright combative and hostile at one point- Long story short, they were implying I couldn't handle their complexity, and I was just appalled at the mess they had made of it. I had only minor interest in the particular role, and was hoping to meet people and network around inside the org since HR sounded like it just had absolute tunnel vision and "my" rep was just focused on filling this one specific role, but the process spanned months and by the time my onsite came around I had already committed to another job, but figured I would see the process through. I headed on the flight back with zero interest in working with that team, though I did love the dog friendly culture. I wrote about this in more depth in the past if you are interested I can dig it up. But in general, while it wasn't regarded as a cushy place (compared to say Google), I never knew it to be a meat grinder until recently. If anything about 3 years ago, I started hearing that working on the business side was problematic, but its much more recent that those stories started coming out from the engineering side of things.

Apocryphon 5y ago
Also wondering if the creation of platforms like Glassdoor, Blind, even r/CSCareerQuestions have allowed these issues to come to light.
- rejectedandsad 5y ago
  Ironically, those are all the same platforms that made me want to contemplate ending it all because I work at Amazon. After I blocked them at the router level I started to feel better, until I realized people think I’m inferior no matter if I see them say it or not.
  - Apocryphon 5y ago
    Those places are absolutely toxic (Glassdoor less so) when people praise themselves, but I think they're useful in sharing some of the harsh truths about different company cultures, including Amazon. But I'm sure they also miss the overall picture as corporations like Amazon are massive.
throw8881 5y ago
>I feel like most of these stories are just coming out recently, in the last year or so. Maybe things hit a tipping point during the pandemic? Current Amazon engineer here. People have been complaining working at Amazon for a long while. At least in my organization, leadership pays close attention to whether folks are happy or unhappy in their roles. I posted this earlier, but we have a massive workforce of engineers at Amazon, across many countries. If 1% of them are unhappy, and even 5-10% of those unhappy folks are willing to say something about it online, you're going to see plenty of news sites picking up those articles and representing Amazon in a negative light. There's plenty of bad publicity around Amazon, and I think that's due to the insane growth of this company. Regardless of your view, Amazon has been insanely successful. With that success comes suspicion, and you can quickly go from being very trusted to everyone questioning every practice – from quality of AWS documentation to Prime shipment speed to hiring/promotion practices, etc. Alot of people have skin in this game because they're competing directly with Amazon. I'm not saying Amazon can't do better. We absolutely need to. But alot of the things being represented as systemic issues at Amazon are simply not so, but they certainly push a specific narrative. shrug
- VRay 5y ago
  I got a glowing performance review at Amazon one year, and then with the exact same job/productivity level/attitude I got a bad review the year after. I did some digging, and it turned out that from the VP level down everyone in the org got a big "F U" from management as part of an effort to reduce the size of the org. I was wondering why all my teammates with more experience were jumping ship before that, and I learned the hard way. What a fucking scam. You should quit peddling conspiracy theories and actually talk to people with a lot of experience in the industry. I just hope that you figure out how reality works the easy way (by listening to anyone in this thread). After Amazon stabbed me in the back, I swore that I'd never again put work first over my own interests/family/health, and I haven't regretted that decision once in the 6+ years since then.
  - throw8881 5y ago
    From your other post that I read here: >I just waited until my next stock vesting, then took a severance package and left that rancid shithole. We were working on some retarded dead-end boondoggle of a device, and I'm sure everyone in the org got a frowny face on their report card when it was eventually canceled. I've never met anyone who was happy with their previous employer after getting let go. I don't know the specifics of your situation, but I'm entitled to my perspective. Your personal attacks towards me are just that – personal attacks. I hope you found an employer where you're happier. :)
astrange 5y ago
> I headed on the flight back with zero interest in working with that team, though I did love the dog friendly culture. I remember reading a blog about working at Amazon that was mostly about how they hated the dog friendly culture and couldn't get any accommodation for being allergic to dogs. The reputation of Amazon as somewhere you go out of college and then quit after 2 years has been around a while, maybe about as long as the one about Google having impossible interviews.
- kevstev 5y ago
  Its entirely possible I just wasn't in the loop. I worked for Walmart at the time, so it seemed natural to give Amazon a shot. Previously I worked at many meat grinders in finance and was familiar with that type of culture. Being on the east coast I was one of the first people I knew to leave that world for more of a general tech focus, I only really knew about the super well regarded and hated companies.

Apocryphon 5y ago

Also wondering if the creation of platforms like Glassdoor, Blind, even r/CSCareerQuestions have allowed these issues to come to light.

rejectedandsad 5y ago
Ironically, those are all the same platforms that made me want to contemplate ending it all because I work at Amazon. After I blocked them at the router level I started to feel better, until I realized people think I’m inferior no matter if I see them say it or not.
- Apocryphon 5y ago
  Those places are absolutely toxic (Glassdoor less so) when people praise themselves, but I think they're useful in sharing some of the harsh truths about different company cultures, including Amazon. But I'm sure they also miss the overall picture as corporations like Amazon are massive.

throw8881 5y ago

>I feel like most of these stories are just coming out recently, in the last year or so. Maybe things hit a tipping point during the pandemic? Current Amazon engineer here. People have been complaining working at Amazon for a long while. At least in my organization, leadership pays close attention to whether folks are happy or unhappy in their roles. I posted this earlier, but we have a massive workforce of engineers at Amazon, across many countries. If 1% of them are unhappy, and even 5-10% of those unhappy folks are willing to say something about it online, you're going to see plenty of news sites picking up those articles and representing Amazon in a negative light. There's plenty of bad publicity around Amazon, and I think that's due to the insane growth of this company. Regardless of your view, Amazon has been insanely successful. With that success comes suspicion, and you can quickly go from being very trusted to everyone questioning every practice – from quality of AWS documentation to Prime shipment speed to hiring/promotion practices, etc. Alot of people have skin in this game because they're competing directly with Amazon. I'm not saying Amazon can't do better. We absolutely need to. But alot of the things being represented as systemic issues at Amazon are simply not so, but they certainly push a specific narrative. shrug

VRay 5y ago
I got a glowing performance review at Amazon one year, and then with the exact same job/productivity level/attitude I got a bad review the year after. I did some digging, and it turned out that from the VP level down everyone in the org got a big "F U" from management as part of an effort to reduce the size of the org. I was wondering why all my teammates with more experience were jumping ship before that, and I learned the hard way. What a fucking scam. You should quit peddling conspiracy theories and actually talk to people with a lot of experience in the industry. I just hope that you figure out how reality works the easy way (by listening to anyone in this thread). After Amazon stabbed me in the back, I swore that I'd never again put work first over my own interests/family/health, and I haven't regretted that decision once in the 6+ years since then.
- throw8881 5y ago
  From your other post that I read here: >I just waited until my next stock vesting, then took a severance package and left that rancid shithole. We were working on some retarded dead-end boondoggle of a device, and I'm sure everyone in the org got a frowny face on their report card when it was eventually canceled. I've never met anyone who was happy with their previous employer after getting let go. I don't know the specifics of your situation, but I'm entitled to my perspective. Your personal attacks towards me are just that – personal attacks. I hope you found an employer where you're happier. :)

astrange 5y ago

> I headed on the flight back with zero interest in working with that team, though I did love the dog friendly culture. I remember reading a blog about working at Amazon that was mostly about how they hated the dog friendly culture and couldn't get any accommodation for being allergic to dogs. The reputation of Amazon as somewhere you go out of college and then quit after 2 years has been around a while, maybe about as long as the one about Google having impossible interviews.

kevstev 5y ago
Its entirely possible I just wasn't in the loop. I worked for Walmart at the time, so it seemed natural to give Amazon a shot. Previously I worked at many meat grinders in finance and was familiar with that type of culture. Being on the east coast I was one of the first people I knew to leave that world for more of a general tech focus, I only really knew about the super well regarded and hated companies.