Amazon reviews

3.5

60% would recommend to a friend

(209,732 total reviews)
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Andrew Jassy

50% approve of CEO

57% positive business outlook

Amazon has an employee rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars, based on 209,732 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Amazon employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Information Technology industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

210K reviews
5.0
Apr 8, 2020

An Engineer's Dream

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Lots of autonomy. Engineering teams drive the company and are heavily involved in planning, design, and business decisions. My manager, PM, and even director look to me (an SDE-I right out of college) for input and expertise all the time. As an engineer, you have as much influence as you are willing to exert, so long as you have the skills and knowledge to back it up. Different work schedules/styles are flexible and supported. Some of my teammates take 1 WFH day per week to help balance family needs, others come in at 11am because they're just not morning people. As long as you are present when needed (like for meetings), and are delivering good work, you have lots of freedom to make the job work with your life. It's a small convenience to be able to schedule something like a doctor's appointment any day of the week and not have to ask permission of my manager or log "sick day" hours, but it really does help reduce life stress. Incredible growth potential. Clear guidelines for how to advance in your role are available to you from day 1. Easy mobility within the company, plenty of room to explore almost any technology/role you could ever want to try without leaving the company. As an entry-level software engineer, you can direct your career become a TPM, SDM, Principal, Data Engineer, or just about anything else you desire. Networking within the company is easy and there are internal tools and groups to support it. Pay and benefits are good, as well as stock bonuses.

Cons

Onboarding felt like being thrown into a pool with no knowledge of how to swim. This isn't so much a con as a caution: if you aren't willing to push through confusion, read documentation, experiment and fail, and teach yourself new things every day, then you won't be very successful or happy. Don't be afraid to speak up and ask questions. Accept that you will feel dumb for ~6 months. The learning curve has been steep for me but embracing the struggle has made work very rewarding.

4.0
Oct 8, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Working at Amazon is like attending the most cutting-edge technology and business school you can imagine. The hiring bar is extremely high, so everyone is extremely talented. Amazon VP's are some of the smartest people you will ever meet. The whole company moves so quickly that every day you are working on a new major initiative. The leadership principles are literally used everyday - people quote them in meetings, and the company only focuses on customers, never on competitors. It's quite remarkable. If you get an offer to work at Amazon, take it.

Cons

I stayed for over 6 years which put me above 98% of other Amazonians (there's a tool called "oldfart" that compares your tenure to other employees). Most people only last 2-3 years for several reasons. First, the pace is relentless which at first is exhilarating but becomes downright fatiguing. Second, Amazon doesn't really care about you as a person - only as a productive cog in the machine. Third, the RSU award program is ok, but total comp is really only great if the stock is climbing 30% a year. Finally, everyone wants to hire an ex-Amazonian right now. When you combine these, Amazon becomes an amazing training ground, but not a great place to stay long-term.

1.0
Sep 11, 2019
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Lovely co-workers, despite required negative evaluations and stress levels.

Cons

High-stress, fear-based environment that borders cult conditioning. Required negative evaluations of co-workers. Generally sub-par management, low upward-mobility.

Viewing 340 - 342 of 209,732 Reviews

Glassdoor has 251,235 Amazon reviews submitted anonymously by Amazon employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Amazon is right for you.