Great tech and smart coworkers, but toxic/horrible environment - Software Engineer Amazon Employee Review

1.0
Jul 14, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

- Developer AWS accounts, get to play with amazing tech - Very motivated and intelligent coworkers, you learn a lot in a short amount of time - High expectations here develop your engineering and leadership skills quickly

Cons

- Stack ranking, amazon orgs have a quota on performance reviews being Least Effective, you're one bad quarter away from losing your job - Very toxic and stressful work environment, it's known as the meatgrinder for a reason - Pull Requests, revisions, comments, change management requests, design documents -- all are tracked meticulously and your performance is held against them. Having an ops-heavy quarter can make you appear underperforming - Really poor benefits and bare minimum compensation compared to other top tech (stock refreshers can be rare, no annual bonus, promotions are political) - AWS teams have insane ops load, ops improvements rarely are marked down positively in performance reviews

Explore other reviews about Amazon

5.0
Jan 10, 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.

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