Good pay, Great stock and Bad Benefits - Software Development Engineer-II Amazon Employee Review

4.0
10 Mar 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

+ Great base pay. + Mostly nice and mostly very smart coworkers. This may vary depending on the org. In my experience high growth orgs like Alexa have top tier talent. + Dog friendly! + Leaders who genuinely believe in the company and have the Amazon customer centric culture embedded in them + High growth stock + Great relocation bonus + Easy, open internal transfer policy

Cons

- Sh*tty benefits. No meals/snacks nothing. Sub-par 401k match. - Hiring bar is inconsistent. You might run into folks that are not technically competent - Opinionated a-holes get promoted often. Difficult to work with. - Compensation structure is troublesome. Backloaded stock vesting means you have to stay at the company for at least 3 years before you see some real RSUs - Does not foster a friendly, tight knit work community. Everyone is in their own world. Work is just work. - Promotion process sucks. Too much of hitting the checkbox. Promo doc feels unnatural and tedious. It's almost like have an additional FT job. - Forced attrition puts added pressure on employees.

Explore other reviews about Amazon

5.0
30 Apr 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Lots of growth, great team

Cons

less salary and freebees than other big tech companies

5.0
10 Jan 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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