Good for experience, bad for your health - Systems Engineer I Amazon Employee Review

3.0
Nov 23, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

* Nice place to learn lots of new stuff and actually "learn to learn" * People and managers WILL listen to you, its in Amazon's philosophy to "speak up" * Friendly staff * Scale is amazing, you will know how to deal with millions of hosts * Internal tools are great and easy to use * Mature oncall system, you will know what exactly to do in any situation

Cons

* Oncall is tough and will actually affect your health in short term * Most of the technologies used are in-house developed and you won't take that experience away with you * They expect you to perform multiple different tasks at the same time, e.g. design a project, code on another, perform deployments and be oncall * Stress is quite high due to highly critical systems with paying customers * Compensation is relatively lower than in other tech companies, no food is provided and no bonuses whatsoever (you can get 1% or less salary increase per year) * Poor management leading to understaffed teams, unhappy employees who eventually leave * They prefer new features rather than fixing old bugs

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5.0
Jun 3, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Flexible hours, clean environment, quick, accessible, and friendly staff as well as management.

Cons

Not enough hours provided during off seasons

5.0
Jan 10, 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Really smart people, a lot of opportunity for growth, always encouraged to be innovative, think big, and create something new. Competitive salary and benefits with other major tech companies. 100% self motivating work environment. No dress code and 4 legged friends are welcome.

Cons

You have to be self motivated. NO ONE will hold your hand and tell you that you're doing a great job. If you need constant affirmations from management, this company isn't for you.

3159
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