Amazon.com Reviews in Seattle, WA Area

Pros

FOCUS ON COMMUNICATION: Amazon does a good job communicating at the employee level. At many large comanies, the sheer size of the company means things slow down. Amazon does a great job focusing on communication tools to ensure information is disciminated as needed. Use of email, OCS, IRC, multiple ticking systems, and ancilary tools to find people help ensure information can get to where it needs to be now.

OWNERSHIP OF TASKS: Each department has authority to do what it needs to do without excessive input from management. Even during major issues, regular employees can make the call to execute large scale solutions without having to go to management for approval. Teams themselves own day to day tasks and are responsible for them, often operating as a small business within the company . This allows each team to support their internal customers quickly with out office politics and meddling by multiple levels of management.

LEARNING ABILITY: There is so much to do that after 1 or 2 years in a position, you are encouraged to move to another department if you so desire. This allows you to take your current skills, build on them, and grow into a new job. However, if you decide to stay put, technology changes so rapidly that you'll be constantly learning new programming skills, new operating systems, and new tools.

MANAGEMENT OF POOR PERFORMERS: Up or out. It's that simple. Not performing, improve or you're gone. Poor performers cannot hide and are not tolerated. Managers have to fight for their employees every year and explain why everyone is valuable and should stay. If you don't perform, you'll be at the bottom of the pool and looking for your next job.

KNOWLEDGEABLE CO-WORKERS: Although Amazon does not focus on education but multiple factors in hiring, it seems as if most people have advanced degrees. Not just that, but everyone is a super-star. If you think you know all there is to know about your job and are the top person in your company, Amazon will show you there are plenty of people better than you. That provides the drive for employees to learn, grow, and improve.

FOCUS ON EMPLOYEES: Of course, this depends on the department as well. But, most departments do a great job of focusing on employees. Many jobs can be stressful and hectic at times. But, management takes care of their employees. Some teams have a cereal breakfast bar available every day, a Friday afternoon happy hour with food, beer, and wine (yes, in the office!), and quarterly fun events / outings. This is in addition to the Director or VP walking the cubes just to pop in and say hi and see how things are going.

Cons

DRIVE TO PERFORM: There is a constant drive to perform and produce. What you did last year or last month no longer matters. What benefit will you contribute to the company this week? If your answer is "I want to sit back and relax", this isn't the place for you. The drive to perform can be overwhelming for some as it requires constant work and improvement.

POOR DOCUMENTATION: Amazon is a software company that moves fast. Documentation is an after thought. That causes problems when you don't understand something. Granted, there are internal help documents that any employee can create or update, but that doesn't get done regularly. You'll have to have a keen eye at understanding that a document from 4 years ago that contrasts a document from another department from 2 years ago may be 1/4 right and the new document 1/4 wrong. And, I guarantee once you figure it out, you probably won't go back and update the documentation for the next guy.

A LITTLE TO FAST PACED: Things happen so rapidly that it is sometimes counter productive. That software you just wrote or the fix you are being asked to do may only be in production for 2 months. Then you'll have to completely rewrite it. Amazon uses the excuse of the sheer size of operations to justify projects that only have a life span of a couple of months.

ONCALL: Not use to on-call? Get use to it. No matter who you are you WILL be on-call at sometime. Some teams make it easier by having a "follow the sun" approach (you might be on for 12 hours during the day and someone in India on for 12 hours during your night time). Others give you a day off to "compensate" you for having to work on the weekend. Regardless, if you don't think you will be on-call or don't think you'll get paged, change your mind set - it will happen!

FRUGALITY: One of Amazon's core tenants. However, it almost goes to far sometimes. You'll have everything you need to do your job (pens, markers, computers, even multiple monitors if you're in the right job slots), but don't expect other employee perks like free shirts, a mug, or something else. Think of it this way - if it doesn't directly benefit the customer, it's not going to happen. So that "company wide free day off because you're so cool" - nope. A nice Christmas present? Ha. Your anniversary gift - well at 5 and 10 years each you get a new badge, but that's it.

Do I like it here? YES. Are the "cons" worth the benefits? HECK YEA. Will I get burned out? Most likely, but at lest in the mean time I'll have fun and make history.

Pros

There are many things to work on in Amazon - there are few problems that are well solved and do not require further innovation. This can be a huge benefit when you come in to Amazon, there will definitely be something to which you can apply yourself.

Cons

A negative is that often you are dealing with all of the daily work and don't have the chance to make framework improvements or large-scale changes to the software you are working on. Too often stuck with finer details and management may not make time for the larger changes.

Advice to Senior Management

There are many ways the company asks you to work on big improvements. Through the leveling documents for promotions, for peer feedback, and the way the company lauds these efforts with other awards. However, there is little to no time allotted for this kind of work.

Pros

Great place to build software - engineers are given a lot of space to find the right way to solve problems.

Cons

The holidays are overly busy and instead of being able to relax and enjoy some time off - the place is hectic.

Pros

data driven
meritocracy
very smart people
world class leadership

Cons

frenetic
huge number of priorities
autonomous teams aren't completely independent

Pros

Challenging, very intelligent people, great product, new innovations, plenty of opportunity to move around the company and find a match for your skills & interests.

Cons

It's never enough...

Never enough time to do the work
Never enough work done to satisfy management.

Ultimately, frustrating for people who are high-achieving (which is everyone here at Amazon).

Advice to Senior Management

Is it really worth it to burn people out?

Pros

Fast moving, innovative, numbers driven approach to solving all issues with a customer centric focus. There is enough freedom within the company to try new things and you are allowed to run with ideas by the management. You are also allowed to take on responsibilities as you progress.

Cons

The fast pace of change comes with the need the there has to be an extra effort out to keep pace with updates in the company.

Pros

Fantastic place for growth
Ideas are encouraged
Fast paced and energetic
Work with the smartest people in the country

Cons

Work hours are a bit long

Pros

-Casual, but intense work environment, surround by smart and engaging people
-Relaxed dress code (jeans, t-shirts, etc.)
-Great environment if you are a "peculiar" Amazonian
-Right in the city, with great access to restaurants, shopping, etc.

Cons

-Expensive lunch options (~$10+), since there are no company subsidized cafeterias
-Parking is costly, and public transit is OK
-Benefits are OK, but not on par with Google or MSFT

Advice to Senior Management

Keep up the great work and keep the emphasis on mainting the current culture. Continue hiring great talent, even if it's challenging getting the right people.

Pros

Good company that is growing fast and expanding. Has the potential to be a great company, Lot's of opportunity to move and grow in your career with good stock benefits if it keeps dominating the market.

Cons

Immaturity and Politics could kill this place. It runs a bit like a high school clique.The company is getting too big to continue to run on personal relationships so infrastructure is badly needed.

Advice to Senior Management

Listen to people telling you your shoelace is untied. They are not trying to be negative rather, trying to keep you from falling down.

Pros

Challenging, always an insurmountable mountain of work and opportunity.
The very best talent I have ever been a part of.
Impactful work that is felt by our customers.
Historic growth.

Cons

Throw Quality of Life out the window.
If you need accolades, don't come here.
If you want to develop and you need others to help you, don't come here.
Communication - very poor here. You have to bull ahead in a direction that feels right.

Advice to Senior Management

Take better care of your people. When the economy swings to the positive, we will run out of talent to hunt. Focus on retention and diversity, engagement and community support.