I never worked at Amazon, but I did work at other companies known for toughness and "places you can get fired from" - most notably Bridgewater (from where I did

I never worked at Amazon, but I did work at other companies known for toughness and "places you can get fired from" - most notably Bridgewater (from where I did get fired...) These places are not for everyone, but there are very good reasons why people consciously join a place with an "elevated risk of a PIP." Most notably, these places execute very well. Amazon is crushing it in vastly unrelated fields from Retail to Cloud. That seems to suggest that their philosophy on performance is more helpful vs hurtful to them in contrast to what others do. Doesn't mean it's perfect, but that perhaps the imperfections are worth it. Since no system is perfect, a company has to either run the risk of letting good people go, or bad people stay. Amazon has chosen which risk to run and it seems to work for them. As an employee, there's risk both ways. If you want to grow your skills and comp, your best bet is a place that errs towards strength. In the long run, it might be worth the small risk of let go, to be surrounded by strong performers. On the flip side, if you are really worried about underperforming and getting fired, Amazon is probably fine with you self-selecting to not apply. Personally, I took the risk of working at Bridgewater. While I did eventually get fired, those couple of years made me for sure a stronger performer (and person overall) so I am grateful for it. It was the right call but not for everyone.