Amazon Software Dev Engineer reviews

3.4

25% would recommend to a friend

(53 total reviews)
avatar

Andrew Jassy

17% approve of CEO

21% positive business outlook

Software Dev Engineer employees have rated Amazon with 3.4 out of 5 stars, based on 53 company reviews on Glassdoor. This indicates that most Software Dev Engineer professionals have a good working experience there. Amazon is rated in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) by Software Dev Engineer professionals compared to other employers within the Information Technology industry (3.9 stars).

Reviews by job title

53 reviews
1.0
Nov 30, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The compensation was pretty good. Also, you're coworkers, while not necessarily helpful, are very knowledgeable.

Cons

- Extreme individualism. I once was reporting out our metrics for the week and mentioned a win that I had worked on with a coworker. My boss got angry because "He did most of the work". To be clear, I was not attempting to take credit for the work, just saying that it was win for the team. This attitude pervades the whole company. - Management and recruiter lies. I was hired onto a specific team, which I joined because I knew someone on it, and on my first day they moved me to a different team. Classic bait and switch. Had I known they would do this, I would have taken the other offer I had at the time. - Direct criticism under the guise of "being helpful". I was personally criticized multiple times both in team meetings and 1:1s with my manager. - Unrealistic deadlines and no work life balance. Our senior manager said, "you should fail 20% of what you take on in a year". What that really means is that nobody plans well and everyone is stressed because of the amount of work.

5.0
Aug 8, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Cutting edge developments in Amazon.

Cons

Takes sometime to cope up and get sustain in the role.

2.0
Aug 7, 2023
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

You can have the opportunity to work on pretty cool stuff, given the scale at which Amazon operates. Although not at all teams, but if you join a core platform team, you'll be exposed to really scalable tech architectures, which is great to learn from as an entry level engineer.

Cons

I've worked in about 4 teams at Amazon. All the teams I have worked in, including my current one, have overworked me, burnt me out, and overworked me some more. My managers have been unsupportive throughout, most of them dealing with even worse pressure from their own managers. Its very common to be asked to work after hours or on weekends, without so much as a thank you, forget additional compensation. When asked to be compensated for it, they say 'sometimes you have to help out as an owner'. The company's 'Leadership Principles' are used as an excuse by managers to skirt any legal issues that may come up, by using them as documentation points for how the employee is 'not performing'. It's telling that the principles themselves contradict each other, which is clear proof that no employee can actually display all at any given time. So there will always be atleast a subset which someone is not displaying, helping managers justify incessant firing. Firing is also used as a subtextual threat by managers very often to get work completed after hours. There is almost no time given to upskilling, unless the project demands it, in which case you are expected to already have cutting edge skills without the company having to train you. Documentation is always stale. Work life balance is a myth. The only reason to stay is if someone cannot quit, e.g if their work visa depends on staying employed. Most employees that stay long enough stay because of visa issues. I would not recommend anyone joining this company until employee experience improves.

Viewing 19 - 21 of 53 Reviews

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