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Ask HN: Amazon software engineers, how is the work culture now?

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Re: Ask HN: Amazon software engineers, how is the work culture now?

#101

Post by pjc50 »

anonazon123 wrote: post #22

No change since the NYT article. Amazon only changes things when it has to, and only in a lip-service kind of way. There was a flurry of discussion and proposals when the article was published, but it's all died down and we're back to where we were beforehand. Compensation, culture, and perks are infinitely better at Google, Facebook, Lyft, Uber, etc. All of them start vesting your stock monthly after 1 year, whereas…

I'm curious, does this apply to all of Amazon globally? I was considering Amazon Dublin and would be interested to hear what it's like there.

Re: Ask HN: Amazon software engineers, how is the work culture now?

#102

Post by Eldandan »

tinderliker wrote: post #85
leohutson wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The person you replied to is considering suicide, and your only response is to ignore that and agree with the rationale that led them there?

I think he is trolling people with the suicide talk.

Sounded like a dark, tongue-in-cheek response to the "never work for amazon" advice. Like, his only other option is death according to HN commenters, since the only place he got an offer from was amazon.

Or so I hope...

Re: Ask HN: Amazon software engineers, how is the work culture now?

#103

Post by sokoloff »

gigatexal wrote: post #13
jamdamu wrote: post #7

Amazon has taken steps to prevent abusive behavior from occurring, such as creating a process for engineers to challenge managerial pips and allowing engineers to transfer while on development plans. In my opinion, these steps seem more like treating the symptom than the cause. The overall culture remains the same. Engineers are still treated by management as resources to be allocated, and for me, this is the hardest…

What gave it away? The fact that there’s a department called Human Resources? The only way to not feel like a cog in a wheel is to be your own boss.

> a department called Human Resources

And in that phrase, "Human" is the adjective...

Re: Ask HN: Amazon software engineers, how is the work culture now?

#104

Post by cletus »

anonazon123 wrote: post #22

No change since the NYT article. Amazon only changes things when it has to, and only in a lip-service kind of way. There was a flurry of discussion and proposals when the article was published, but it's all died down and we're back to where we were beforehand. Compensation, culture, and perks are infinitely better at Google, Facebook, Lyft, Uber, etc. All of them start vesting your stock monthly after 1 year, whereas…

One minor but important correction: some of those companies you mentioned don’t even have a 1 year cliff anymore.

Re: Ask HN: Amazon software engineers, how is the work culture now?

#105

Post by uji »

Worked in an AWS team, and the biggest issue was constant fire-fighting and oncall/operational load. Code quality is really bad across all teams in AWS due to constant prioritization of features over stability. We use to get 20 pages a day, and it was very common to get 2-3 pages in the middle of night. It was horrible and yet management didn't pay much attention on fixing it. At the end devs starting leaving the team one by one. Recently I heard that the team hired twice the number of devs to reduce frequency of oncall rotation.

Re: Ask HN: Amazon software engineers, how is the work culture now?

#106

Post by dnomad »

cm2012 wrote: post #16

The talk here about sticking at a job that makes you cry, when you have in demand skills and can work anywhere, is nuts to me.

Frankly I very much doubt that most of the claims in this thread are real or worthwhile. Besides the obvious anti-Amazon hardon that HN has, the thread itself will select for the most unhappy Amazon employees. Indeed what we're seeing is a kind of race to the bottom, now with gender bingo. It's really unfortunate that the mods let these kinds of anonymous, negativity-fueled threads stand. It's an open invitation for firms to drive negative coverage about their competitors.

Re: Ask HN: Amazon software engineers, how is the work culture now?

#107

Post by rusk »

mjlee wrote: post #80
sjapkee wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>no free food/drinks It's sooooo important.

It's a cheap perk that makes employees happier. Employee happiness is important.

It also means you don't have to put energy into sorting out your lunch, which I see personally as a huge productivity boost.

Re: Ask HN: Amazon software engineers, how is the work culture now?

#108

Post by rusk »

charliesome wrote: post #95
swarnie_ wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I definitely stay at work, and stay on campus longer because of the free breakfasts and lunches.

I don't understand how this is an argument in favour of free food/drink. You're selling whatever additional time you give to your employer for a rock bottom price. It's not a good deal.

Without knowing details of compensation you can't really say whether they've given their extra time at a rock bottom price or not.

Re: Ask HN: Amazon software engineers, how is the work culture now?

#109

Post by leohutson »

Eldandan wrote: post #102
tinderliker wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think he is trolling people with the suicide talk.

Sounded like a dark, tongue-in-cheek response to the "never work for amazon" advice. Like, his only other option is death according to HN commenters, since the only place he got an offer from was amazon. Or so I hope...

I didn't interpret that way at all, read their other comments. Even if they are just trolling they clearly aren't healthy right now, because that's a pretty fucked joke.

I know people here as a rule aren't very empathetic, but the responses to this person are particularly cold.

Re: Ask HN: Amazon software engineers, how is the work culture now?

#110

Post by jononor »

uji wrote: post #105

Worked in an AWS team, and the biggest issue was constant fire-fighting and oncall/operational load. Code quality is really bad across all teams in AWS due to constant prioritization of features over stability. We use to get 20 pages a day, and it was very common to get 2-3 pages in the middle of night. It was horrible and yet management didn't pay much attention on fixing it. At the end devs starting leaving the tea…

Include managers in overnight pager duty and I bet it would quickly become a priority.
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