Amazon.com Reviews

Former Employee – worked at Amazon.com full-time for more than a year

Pros – Compensation is competitive-- as long as the stock price continues to climb. Turnover is high so there are plenty of opportunities for promotion. In the fulfillment centers Controllers work with a high degree of independence.

Cons – Turnover is high which hurts continuity and effectiveness. 60-70 hour work weeks are the norm rather than the exception. Management is often verbally abusive and behaves with a sense of entitlement. Financial consolidation and reporting is a nightmare as it's a patchwork of Excel workbooks tied together with buggy VBA code. Finance tools available at every other medium to large business are non-existent. SOX compliance terrified me given absence of tools to establish effective control of assets and inventory.

Advice to Senior Management – The number of employees willing and able to absorb the abuse required for being part of a startup is limited. The mantra in Seattle is that "it's still Day1" but the truth of the matter is that you are now a very large company and the pool of candidates will to absorb the abuse that comes with a startup has been exhausted. Now that the pool of potential employees includes a lot of people just looking to hold a job and grow a career (not looking for the giant payday associated with a start-up) the management approach needs to change. The extremely high turnover rate (25-30% within 12 months) should be a clear signal that your current culture limits your growth potential.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Amazon.com full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Opportunity to work on interesting products and features within the company. There is no dearth of good work opportunities.

Cons – The work pressure in the company is very high - not just for this role, but for all roles. Everyone seems to be overworked. As a result of this, there is no work life balance. This is definitely not the company where people can work for a long period of time. Eventually, everyone burns out and looks for better jobs elsewhere.
Moreover, there is no recognition of employees. Even after delivering stuff, there is hardly any feeling of achievement because it is not attributed to employees and they are not recognized.

Advice to Senior Management – Please create means that can help improve the recognition of employees. Build awards based on team achievements, individual achievements, etc. A small pat on the back goes a long way and sometimes it far surpasses the monetary incentives.
Secondly, please do not create unnecessary work pressures, try to improve work-life balance among employees. A lot of work pressure seems to be unnecessary. Things like yearly planning, their reviews, reporting, etc take up more than usual time. It is important for senior management to have visibility into what is going on, but at some point, trust your employees to take the right decisions rather than controlling everything.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Amazon.com full-time for less than a year

Pros – Good salary for a fresher, better than current market standards. Dress Code: Wear something

-The job we do at amazon is amazing. Free transport(being the only reason for retention)
-data driven culture (can be manipulated by the management)
-high growth possibility (If you have the right people to back you)
-Recent management has a pathetic approach towards employees, otherwise all good

Cons – Every passing day a new con would arise. The list might be too lengthy

Advice to Senior Management – Please change your approach. Treat us like fellow employees, not slaves.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Former Employee – worked at Amazon.com full-time for less than a year

Pros – Amazon offers great benefits like stock shares when you are full- time. Always busy so hours aren't and issue and competitive pay raises! You receive a raise every six months then they are given annually. Quick and easy to make money with a seasonal position.

Cons – Seasonal is comparable to sweatshop work! Very tuff physical labor and expect a mandatory schedule of 60 hours.- full time positions have been rumored ( and lived up to) unemployment after " maxing out on their payroll scales... Warehouse workers will make about $14 hourly and they find ways to fire people ( not my experience) after they have been maxed at the $14 hr mark.... You max out after about 4 years, right when employees are comfortable with their position and relying on the income... Amazon hubs do not seem to value their employees and do not tell a whole lot about their company in whole upon highering... Let alone your position and what your position means to the company.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Amazon.com full-time for less than a year

Pros – Palletizing, stacking totes; so easy a monkey could do it; for the most part, you won't lift more than about 30 lbs...not that heavy.
As long as you make rate, you are left alone for the most part.
Most employees are very nice and respectful.
The job pays extremely good money for such easy work---especially night shift
4 nights a week (off-peak)

Cons – The job procedures are a bit nitpicky (EX: above 4 pallets, get a partner, which ain't always possible especially when there are few people on the EOL line and you get weighed down with so many totes)

Some associates like to boss you around as if they are your supervisors...annoying

The job is extremely boring and tiresome; you do the same thing over and over and over for weeks and weeks before being given another assignment

Advice to Senior Management – Make the job more exciting by switching up assignments every other day.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend

Current Employee – been working at Amazon.com full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Pros:
+ Like others have said, you are really encouraged to act as a business owner.
+ Work is fast paced and can be a grind, but there is never a dull moment.
+ Strong commitment to the Leadership Principles.
+ Commitment to the long term goals of the company vs. parity with retail competitors.
+ Employees are rewarded for their work and compensated appropriately.
+ Beautiful campus

Cons – Cons:
- Can be a grind - long hours are the rule, not the exception. Work life balance is heavily weighted to work.
- Management and management expectations varies greatly from business unit to business unit.
- Typical red-flags within a company (like high turnover) are not investigated.
- Culture is very male-centric. Women need to have thick skin and be willing to speak up and be heard.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Amazon.com full-time for more than a year

Pros – - Start up environment
- Great autonomy
- Data driven culture
- High growth possibilities
- Management willing to let you experiment and make mistakes

Cons – - Real Amazon culture is in US - which is Awesome. Indian environment often sees fake manifestations to apply the typical political grind under the cover of Amazon leadership principles.
- Yes - your manager can play a big role in your ratings; despite the peer feedback
- Bad appraisal process in general
- Be prepared to stick in the salary range your got with offer for some time. Monetary growth is puny and promotions need blood and sweat.

Advice to Senior Management – As I said above - We should be cognizant if the hired leaders can true carry the great Amazon culture baton successfully.
Please make salary increments practically acceptable.

– I'm not optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Amazon.com

Pros – They legitimately want to remain number 1 in the industry. If job security is important to you, then you definitely want to work with people who have a clue. Their is a healthy paranoia around staying number 1 and targeting seemingly unachievable goals (but somehow always achieving them).

Cons – You will work hard. You will not be able to slack. Slackers don't last long. If you think you can "work less but work smarter", this is not the place for you. People here are both smart AND they work hard. That's not to say their isn't a work-life balance. It's just that slacking is not culturally acceptable or tolerated as it is in other companies. Want to "ride it out" to retirement? Again not the place. As long as you work here, you will work hard, but also contribute to great things.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Amazon.com full-time for more than 3 years

Pros – Amazon is great company if you like the fast paced environment. Company tend to focus on what really matters and that is customer experience. People are solution oriented more than problem focused.

Cons – Employees don't necessarily get any perks (not even Prime), long hours are expected. The work/job satisfaction can vary dramatically based on the team you are in.

Advice to Senior Management – Treat employee as your internal customers.

Yes, I would recommend this company to a friend – I'm optimistic about the outlook for this company

Current Employee – been working at Amazon.com

Pros – A lot fo things happening, growth

Cons – no work/life balance at all