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Amazon Robotics

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Amazon Robotics reviews

3.5

54% would recommend to a friend

(100 total reviews)

60% positive business outlook

Reviews by job title

100 reviews

Reviews about "Compensation"

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2.0
Aug 29, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Kiva Systems has been renamed Amazon Robotics: perhaps Amazon wants the world to remember that they have robots. It sounds like they are trying hard to just be another part of Amazon, so if you like what you read about working at Amazon, you will probably like working at Amazon Robotics. You might earn lots of frequent flyer points. You might get a lot of exercise walking around huge warehouses. Any good news about the company will be all over the business news. There are hard problems to work on with the reliability and scale of the biggest fleet of autonomous robots in the world. You can help millions of people get stuff. You will be helping millions of people on all of the big shopping days. In your salary review, your manager might give you positive feedback from your coworkers. If your coworkers say nice things about you, you may be considered more valuable than them, so you will be less likely to be laid off than them. There is a big HR organization on the west coast to help you with your benefits. You will be part of a major company. You might get to see Seattle. You will have lots of users. You might get some free AMZN stock.

Cons

Kiva Systems has been renamed Amazon Robotics: perhaps they don't want anyone to remember the reputation that they earned through this web site. It sounds like they are trying hard to just be another part of Amazon, so if you don't like what you read about working at Amazon, you will probably not like working at Amazon Robotics. You might sleep in hotels a lot. You might waste a lot of time walking around huge warehouses. Any bad news about the company will be all over the business news. Only a few of the early employees remain. Mick Mountz is no longer running Amazon Robotics, he is off working on some sort of special project. Keep your phone charged and near your bed so that you can be ready at any time of any day to help when millions of people can't get stuff. You will be busy helping millions of people on all of the big shopping days. In your salary review, your manager might give you negative feedback from your coworkers. If you say nice things about your coworkers, they may be considered more valuable than you, so they will be less likely to be laid off than you. Don't expect a promotion to get past the big HR organization on the west coast. If you smile a lot while working really hard, you might get rewarded with an engraved rock. You will be part of a warehouse operation. You might get to see warehouses all over the country. Your users will be people who work in warehouses. Your AMZN stock won't vest at a constant rate, so be prepared to stay around for many years.

2.0
Jan 13, 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

There are still some good people at Kiva, but many have left. Compensation is very competitive, but be warned that Amazon makes heavy use of stock bonuses as part of the compensation package, which don't vest until a year after your bonus. This makes it very difficult to justify leaving should you decide the company is not for you.

Cons

This is a really tough place to work. Stress levels are through the roof, and aggressive and ever-changing deadlines and goals are pushed all the way through the organizational chain. The culture in many departments is such that very long hours are expected. Middle management is poor, but this is a consequence of the acquisition environment: (a) Amazon sets very aggressive goals which change frequently, (b) Kiva upper management, which contains many long-time "key employees", are essentially required to stay at Kiva for several years to cash in on stock / bonuses and likely required to meet certain business targets that Amazon demands, and (c) as a consequence, management has no choice but to push aggressive and unrealistic targets are pushed down the chain. A lot of unhappiness all around. Middle management sees no flexibility from upper management, and is forced to push a very large burden on employees at the bottom of the chain. Managers are conditioned by upper management to "spin" any critical feedback or negative news in a positive way during any meetings that include Amazon. If it isn't a "good story", then it it shouldn't be communicated. Several upper managers look terrified and act frantically when certain key Amazon deadlines appear at risk. This creates a culture that is very high paced, requires long hours, is stressful, yet is often successful at achieving short term goals. However, long term goals suffer, and employees leave in flocks. Another huge problem is retention: There are far too few employees for the tasks at hand. The turnover rate has been off the charts post-acquisition. This only compounds the problems above, and creates a downward spiral that is difficult to reverse. This used to be a five star company. Don't be fooled: it isn't anymore. As a final note: be advised that most of the five star reviews in 2014 occurred in a time frame when Kiva was initiating a major hiring push. Most of these reviews were from key managers and employees, and probably not representative of the types of jobs you'll be applying for.

1.0
Nov 24, 2014

Engineer

Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The Brand name. Initial compensation package in the door. Looks like a great place but be warned!

Cons

Operations is so broken it could only be fixed by a major management turn over. It is hostile and the bully mentallity rules the decision making. The front end of the business is just as bad and the two sides are always after individual goals versus what is best for the company. Go in with a high salary because the raises are almost nonexistent and promotions are only earned after setting unrealistic goals that set-up to be unobtainable. They would prefer that you leave after 2-3 years.

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