Amazon.com Reviews in New Castle, DE

Pros

Amazon is a fast paced business that prefers to act rather than wait indefinitely for the perfect solution. The organization is very flat, so responsibility is yours for the taking. They take leadership very seriously, and expect great things from their managers every year.

Cons

Can be long hours, but that comes with any operations job.

Advice to Senior Management

Like many companies, they sometimes approve savings and projects on loosely formed data. I believe Amazon could use learning a more standardized method of data analysis to better understand and validate the projects they take on and approve.

Pros

salary/stocks benefit package is attractive
work with some real talent

Cons

Micro management to the extreme
Worst Sr. Team
Treat employees like a number and don't care about revolving door

Advice to Senior Management

change culture by removing Sr. Team bringing in new Sr. team that really knows how to lead, motivate and retain talent

Pros

Pros

For someone leaving the Military, Amazon was a good place to go. They aggressively recruit and find new talent. It made finding my job here very easy. The base salary is a good wage and if you plan on sticking around, the stocks and bonuses are very good. The company does grow every year so there are new opportunities elsewhere in the company if you are willing to move.

Cons

Cons

There is a revolving door for both managers and hourly associates. The leadership structure is extraordinarily flat, leaving almost no room for promotion for the hourly associates. As for managers, a lot of their aggressive recruiting currently is focused almost entirely on MBA students who enter at the base management level and then get auto-promoted on a semi regular basis. This is as long as they don't screw anything up too bad.

   The 401K plan is terrible. It matches 1/2% up to 4% (in other words you put up 4% and get only 2% match). You are only vested in the plan after 3 years which is longer than the average young professional stays at a single job. When the annual review comes around and compensation is increased, it is always at the cost of another pay. So if you get more base pay, you get less in bonus or stocks and vice versa. The only way to make more then what you are currently making is to get promoted. As somebody on this site already mentioned, the only way for this to happen is to work so much and long that senior management feels sorry for you.

   The company also somehow manages to mess up the ramp up to the holiday season every year. Even though we have multiple planning meetings before and after peak, we are not able to staff correctly. It is mostly due to the companies unwillingness to have one extra employee rather than be short by 10. This leads to managers and associates alike getting burnt out during peak.

Advice to Senior Management

Advice to Senior Management

Communicate with your associates more. Rethink not having more intermediate leadership positions. These associates who fill new slots will get valuable leadership experience and will be monetarily compensated for their more difficult work. Then they might take more pride in their jobs and they will do them better. It could also lead to more internal promotions.

Pros

Decent Stock grants after 2 year mark
A lot of exposure to LSS and Process Improvement

Cons

Extremely low pay
Micro management by barely competent senior management
Absolute lack of work/life balance
Middle management and below treated poorly by the company
Abnormally high employee turnover rate

Advice to Senior Management

Too late to fix systemic problems

Pros

Growing company with a great reputation behind its name. Very innovative and always looking at ways to make process better. Always searching for new talent. Uses business principles and concepts in everything they do. In short, looks great on your resume. They try to take care of the hourly associates.

Cons

Long hours. They change their shifts whenever business needs dictate; but you are at their mercy if they decide to put you on the new shift whether you like it or not. Some of the new talent that's brought in dont have any leadership experience or inter-personal skills. 401K plan is crap. You have to wait years before you can get the full match. No one really looks out for the managers.

Advice to Senior Management

This company's business model is one to admire. It has an uncanny way of saving money through reducing labor but increasing responsibility for everyone else. Seems like they are willing to accept the high manager turnover to reach some of their goals. My only advice would be to try to take care of your managers just a little better.

Pros

The energy and pace of growth makes it a really exciting place to work. Coworkers are generally interesting and fun people. Work environment is casual with a true open door policy, lots of manic panic in the hair of management, and other similar monikers of a laid back internet company culture.

Cons

Communication about initiatives is a bit lacking, things move so fast you need to take responsibility for your own development. Work/life balance can get out of hand and you have to learn to place limits on your own time. If you let yourself work 24 hours a day, there's plenty of work to do but you need to manage your own time.

Advice to Senior Management

Improve communication, focus on developing people. work on training new management so that as we grow our culture and values are not diluted. be wary of administrative nonesense one of the things that makes amazon work is the freshness and energy of the company, we need to find the balance between necessary structures that enhance accountability and bureaucratic red tape.