How can Amazon find enough people to hire given the URA targets?

Sep 21, 2021 38 Comments

Amazon has ~70000 devs. Let’s say 10% get PIPed or leave on Dev List every cycle, then that means 14000 people are marked as not eligible for rehire every year.

The US only confers ~ 65000 CS degrees annually, and that figure includes all the low-tier universities and community colleges. Only a fraction of those 65000 will be competent enough to code, and I think the actual number of proficient programmers produced in the US is close to 10000-20000 annually.

Clearly not all of these programmers will want to join Amazon. How can Amazon find enough people to hire? Isn’t it sheer stupidity that they have mandatory URA targets, which artificially reduces their talent pool?

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TOP 38 Comments
  • Amazon
    IPjl26

    Go to company page Amazon

    IPjl26
    Instead of asking why, first ask if. Amazon no longer has a URA quota, though I don’t want to put a wet blanket on your bashing of a company you don’t work for.
    Sep 21, 2021 25
    • Amazon
      FSoH20

      Go to company page Amazon

      FSoH20
      There’s a real ratings system and now this fake rating system that is delivered to the employee. Example: I got Exceeds in my last OLR.

      This is the highest rating the manager can deliver to the employee. However, it maps to multiple ratings in the actual system (Top Tier, Highly Valued 1, 2, or 3). Every time I enter a ratings meeting I basically tell my manager to cut the bullshit and tell me the real rating. They usually refuse unless they are cool, so I use it to gauge how much I can trust my manager.

      If you aren’t gonna tell me the actual rating, I’m at least going to gauge how trustworthy you are and then make decisions around that whether I should move on.
      Sep 22, 2021
    • Google
      again4me

      Go to company page Google

      again4me
      Thanks that's a lot of great information. Understandable that a lot of documentation is required to manage someone out. Given the high URA targets, I sympathize that it can be a huge pain depending on the size of the team. I bet also there are naturally people who leave without being pushed out but who are on Focus. So maybe you get lucky. The thing I've heard most though is there's a weird feeling where you hope that some people on your team fail, so that you can meet your target. Or at least, you feel relieved when they fail. At Google we sometimes have the opposite challenge where there are people who coast and get their CME (meets expectations) and they're just barely barely enough to slide by but you know you could easily have a stronger teammate.
      Sep 22, 2021
  • Amazon
    🖕Amaz0n

    Go to company page Amazon

    🖕Amaz0n
    They just want breed donkeys and call them leaders.
    Sep 21, 2021 1
  • Amazon
    Tim-tum

    Go to company page Amazon

    Tim-tum
    India!!!!
    Sep 21, 2021 1
  • Amazon
    yoyomaa

    Go to company page Amazon

    yoyomaa
    Amazon's no rehire policy is a major reason they can't find people to work, hence they are going international for more visa slaves.
    Sep 21, 2021 1
  • Amazon
    WRkK83

    Go to company page Amazon

    WRkK83
    You’re forgetting 1 billion CS degrees conferred in India each year
    Sep 22, 2021 1