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
26 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

-Structural and organize -High pay -All training done on site

Cons

-Before start date very limited, information about AWS(They don't like sharing over the internet. -Fast pace with training and learning.

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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