Pros
* Very strong focus on the customer (great but can be frustrating at times). * Great business model and everyone knows the brand. * Flat structure, no micromanaging / you are given a lot of ownership. * Reasonable pay (esp. given the work you are doing - see below) * Opportunity to cycle roles / departments every 18-24 months to keep developing / learning.
Cons
* Amazon in the UK is a retail company rather than a tech company (don't fool yourself into thinking it's like Google or has a start-up mentality) * VERY frugal business model e.g. horrible office in Slough and few meeting rooms which means (embarrassingly) you have to conduct external meetings in the cafeteria! * It seems the US office has all the perks. * Culture is real "love or hate" - generally quite bureaucratic and political. Very high churn - At interview, it was mentioned by different people repeatedly that people either stay for six months or 10 years (I stayed less than a year, although I know people who absolutely love it there - maybe the person you are or the department you work for?). * Amazon operates a lean operating model, heavily reliant on systems and managers have no juniors. * Real mix of people - some nice and hard-working but quite a few "coasting" doing the bare minimum which can mean it is difficult if you want to achieve and get things done and a few very incompetent / unpleasant / aggressive personalities that have been there for years and will never leave. * Flat structure, which means that you can move sideways but difficult to get promoted / grow. Titles are essentially meaningless and misleading (you are responsible for entire role / no delegation so you spend all your time fire-fighting and little time (if any) growing the business. Senior Vendor Manager = buyer in any other retail organisation). * No one seems to care how well you do and it has no effect on compensation. That, plus difficult environment (flat, political) for promotion means a poor incentive to work hard. * Work is very systems / data-driven and can be extremely mundane (e.g. answering customer complaint cases (like back and forth supplier to Amazon customer care employee to supplier to customer care employee etc etc) . * You're dumped in the deep end with a very sharp learning curve and no formal training other than you're expected to pick things up yourself or by asking people who have been there longer than you - would be fine ordinarily but there is no explanation of what you are actually meant to be doing (!!) and far too many systems with no explanations of how they work - No one takes accountability for new hires. Massively inefficient. * Takes about 3 months to master a role and then mundane work for the rest of your time in that position. If you really want to work there and want to get ahead, try to get into a growing area otherwise you're forgotten / it's more of a caretaker role...