Amazon work/life balance and employee satisfaction? (Seattle: transfer, salary)

[deleteno5]

Does anyone know anyone that works for Amazon? I have an offer for a technical role on their AWS team and I've read HORRIBLE things on glassdoor.com regarding work/life balance and corporate culture. It was very common to see people talk about 10-12+ hour shifts every day, managers being demeaning to employees and not caring about them, basically treating them as disposable. What've you guys heard?

[kaday]

Originally Posted by deleteno5

Does anyone know anyone that works for Amazon? I have an offer for a technical role on their AWS team and I've read HORRIBLE things on glassdoor.com regarding work/life balance and corporate culture. It was very common to see people talk about 10-12+ hour shifts every day, managers being demeaning to employees and not caring about them, basically treating them as disposable. What've you guys heard?

My spouse works 14 hour days routinely...though he is not a technical person. Work life balance is not on their radar.

[amaiunmei]

If you want work-life balance, Amazon is not the place for it. To some degree, IT in general focuses on a long workweek to get things done, and Amazon is no exception.

I know a lady who worked for Amazon more than a decade ago (programmer) and I know a gentleman who works there in QA currently. Their stories regarding work-life balance are similar.

The upside to working for Amazon is that they don't even pay the most, so you can use your experience at Amazon to procure a higher salary somewhere else further down the road.

[wideworld]

Don't believe everything you read on Glassdoor. For one, I've found their salary estimates to be completely off. Two, the job will depend a lot on your immediate managers and team. How did you like the people you interviewed with? If you can, set up one last debriefing-type phone call and check the "culture fit" and if you just plain get along. I know it's not foolproof, but if you can suss out some of the behaviours you're worried about, that should answer your questions a lot better than Glassdoor.

[Mousetron]

I strongly echo wideworld's suggestion to ask your manager. A friend was deciding between two teams when he was being recruited and after talking with both managers he chose the slower-paced one.

My husband is an SDE2 and his regular hours are about 8:30-6:00. It varies though - sometimes he finishes earlier and sometimes he's there until 7 and does extra work when he gets home. The Glassdoor testimonials skewed much more negative than his experience. He found that the work/life balance at Amazon is comparable to every (non entry-level) job he's ever had.

It really depends on your team and your own personality. If you don't like the team you're on you can transfer internally. Also all the big tech companies poach from each other so it's easy to move on if you don't like it.

[shaylahc]

I think any of the big companies here (Microsoft, Amazon, Boeing, etc) are going to expect you to work long hours. This is the "big leagues" in terms of jobs (they don't put people through 5+ hour interviews for nothing). They want the best of the best, and if you want to earn the big dollars they will be throwing at you, that means you will work. A lot.

My husband landed a job at Microsoft in March after working at IBM for 14 years. At IBM he was able to telecommute (which is frowned upon at Microsoft), and while he did work long hours...at least he was here at home. Now he works a 10-12 hour day at the office, and is often paged at odd hours on nights and weekends to work. On Sunday he is traveling to China for 2 weeks. They expect him to work hard to earn those big bucks.

I think if you're looking for work/life balance, Seattle IT is not the place for you. This is a competitive environment, and you are expected to show up and work hard. It can be stressful and draining, only you can decide if the trade off is worth it (time vs. $$$).

[flyingsaucermom]

Highly variable. It boils down to expectation and perception on your end as well as expectation, position, team, project, leadership, season, industry, and probably a whole host of other external variables.

[PNWGuy]

correct. Worklife balance depends on the team and individual, not the company. And no, Microsoft does not frown upon telecommuting. It does vary by team/position and individual lerformance/ability.

[texastrigirl]

Originally Posted by wideworld

Don't believe everything you read on Glassdoor. For one, I've found their salary estimates to be completely off. Two, the job will depend a lot on your immediate managers and team. How did you like the people you interviewed with? If you can, set up one last debriefing-type phone call and check the "culture fit" and if you just plain get along. I know it's not foolproof, but if you can suss out some of the behaviours you're worried about, that should answer your questions a lot better than Glassdoor.

My husband was at Amazon for almost 5 years and only left for a much better situation and office with a door. He did really well there salary-wise but the stock was also at $60 when he joined so the run helped immensely. He had good work life balance as a PM/TPM and a Senior Product Mgr but he would also tell you it depends on your immediate managers and team. He enjoyed his time there and would go back to the right team and the right position someday.

[MaikeerinWA]

Hmm, my perspective is that the Boeing culture couldn't be more different than Amazon, in terms of such things as creativity, energy, and yes, work-life balance. But I agree with others that the "balance" question really depends on which team, project, or group you are with. I'm guessing that on average, the hours worked at Microsoft are lower than they were in the 1990s when the company was at an earlier stage of its development.

Originally Posted by shaylahc

I think any of the big companies here (Microsoft, Amazon, Boeing, etc) are going to expect you to work long hours.