Is Amazon unfairly targeted for PIPS?

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BdMz27

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BdMz27
Dec 22, 2021 19 Comments

While I don’t know the exact number, 1% of devs at Amazon will be 500+ engineers. So we could have few thousand devs at or near a PIP.

Is all negative publicity for Amazon (pertaining to PIPS) from these folks?

#FAANG #AWS #Amazon #software #pip

TC 500k

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  • My ex boss worked as a manager at amazon . His devs made a mistake causing an issue , his boss asked him to put devs on pip, he refused . This happened two times

    Then he got put on pip and managed out at 11 months . He lost out on like 150-200K vs his last job .

    This person was an amazing engineer and a great manager btw
    Dec 22, 2021 3
    • Apple
      kTee58

      Go to company page Apple

      kTee58
      You could be making this story up and I’ll still believe you. I know a few people who left Amazon for reasons like this.
      Dec 22, 2021
    • I mean he got parts but he left with stocks vested on his last job .. sorry mean the whole 4 year thing

      It takes time to find a new job if you get laid off because it’s viewed negatively
      Dec 22, 2021
  • Was at AWS, here's my story. In a meeting with team+manager+skip. The manager was fairly new and generally didn't know anything, but always asserted himself into everything and thought he was a awesome engineer. One engineer on the team was sharing progress on a high vis project, when the skip asked a question. The manager quickly asserted himself and rambled about some nonsense. Confused the engineer corrected the manager and set the story straight for the skip. The manager shut up for the rest of the meeting. Later the engineer said the manager lashed out at him in a 1:1 and said not to correct him in front of the skip. A couple months later he was put onto focus. Meanwhile we had a guy on the team that didn't do anything and was waiting to get fired as far as I can tell, but he continued to skate by doing nothing.
    Dec 22, 2021 3
    • Other shitty Amazon lessons.
      - You don't need to do good work, just create data showing you did good work.
      - If you get promoted don't expect anything in terms of a compensation bump.
      - It's better to be good at politics, rather than being good at engineering
      - Managers will lie to you about everything and anything as long as it helps them.
      - Don't get roped into fixing core business problems to try to get promoted. Instead launch some f-all service and make up some data showing how good it is. Then leave in the time between getting promoted and people discovering the service is vaporware.
      Dec 22, 2021
    • Amazon
      Browsky

      Go to company page Amazon

      PRE
      Amazon
       Browsky
      Lol, this is so relatable 😅
      Dec 22, 2021
  • Wish
    lèmönl

    Go to company page Wish

    lèmönl
    Most of my friends love Amazon. Very few hate it. It really depends on the org and the team.
    Dec 22, 2021 4
    • Oracle / Product
      LegoFellow

      Go to company page Oracle Product

       LegoFellow
      But…but you get free bananas. Who doesn’t like free bananas? /s
      Dec 22, 2021
    • Amazon / Eng
      testing?

      Go to company page Amazon Eng

       testing?
      I've been there for 2 years on 2 separate teams. Pretty good experience on both so far. I'm an L5 and I've called out the L7/L8 in meetings, and no backlash. Got a pre-emptive compensation raise in my current team because I was pretty underpaid (200k 2yoe to 260k). I know I could get more externally (citadel, FB, etc) but very few other places get to do the work that I do so I'm still staying here. I believe there are shit orgs but at least for mine in AWS it's pretty good.

      Most SWEs in life aren't super motivated. They want highTC and good WLB because they never really liked SWE work for the sake of SWE work (if IB still paid as much as it did, they'd do that instead) . They don't care about the work so long as they're pampered. It's fine, i'm not judging (ok maybe a little) but if it's the case amazon on average is not for you. Exceptions include muppet Alexa teams and legal teams which don't do jack lol. I've worked 50 hour weeks very rarely, but mostly kept it under 40. you just have to be efficient and push back on meetings. and yeah be good at your freaking job not just leetcode.
      Dec 23, 2021
  • Amazon
    amamama

    Go to company page Amazon

    amamama
    Hire to fire is real
    Dec 22, 2021 0
  • What pizza said + (a) there is no way to objectively find what the low 5-10% performers and (b) it breeds a culture of insecurity which is never good.
    Dec 22, 2021 1
    • Oracle
      samiam82

      Go to company page Oracle

      samiam82
      Yes, that is the problem, aside from it just being a brutal serf environment. There is no objective way to determine who the low performers are... it is just who managers have problems with at any given time. It may be because you are showing them up or pointing out mistakes that need to be fixed. HR sprinkles a few numbers on top of opinions to make it look scientific. It breeds a culture of fear and insecurity... which leads to constant turnover, especially among top performers who can work anywhere. Why put up with that work environment if you can go work anywhere?
      Dec 23, 2021