Currently an L5 SDE at AWS. Been pulling about 80 hour weeks for the past couple of months or so. Great work, great team, great manager, but shitty pressure from our leadership (L7 and above) - well everything that was great is now essentially shit because of our leadership. It sucks because I really love what I do (new AWS project, brand new stack, massive scale, free bananas, etc.), but it’s all catching up with me. Started at Amazon at 220k, now at 300k on paper after a dive and save, but with this stock drop more realistically around 240-260k (haven’t calculated yet). Interviewed at American Express, and got an offer for their highest Senior Engineering position (since they have two levels), and even though it’s less money, I’m considering to take it for better wlb, and better benefits (like 28 days PTO, etc.). The only thing that I’m worried about is the tech stack which is older, as well as the potential lack of a competitive environment (given that I would think there’s more competition at Amazon and the bar is higher engineering wise). What do y’all think? Old TC (before stock drop): 300K Old TC (after stock drop): 240-260k - idk? New TC (AMEX offer): 170K Base 20k Sign On 15-30% annual bonus (depending on how the company performs, because I know I’ll be banging)
Take Amex or interview more. I wouldn’t power through bad wlb, it only burns you out more.
Your skills will suffer but people rest and vest for a reason. Most people only do a few years at Amazon anyway.
Resting and not vesting at Amex.
I wouldn’t rush into it as it sounds like you have some doubts. Even if you have WLB you’ll miss the innovation. You should be able to find both if you’re a strong candidate. Have you thought about taking a vacation? You’re a top performer so I’m sure they’d be accommodating.
Yeah, that’s true. I have been thinking about it, but I don’t have that many days left in my PTO bank, as I had a long period of time off (and by long I’m speaking in terms of the shitty amount of PTO that we get) before this tough period
I’m a very similar personality to you by the sounds of it, we take on too much ownership to the point where it becomes expected. I’m an L6 SDE in AWS so it only gets more political if you don’t develop a sustainable balance. I’ve had some good mentorship and coaching which has helped me to set some boundaries, strengthen my shields and manage up without harming my rating. DM me if you want to chat outside of Blind.
Location?
I’m working remotely and my team is based in the US - honestly don’t wanna say too much in terms of location . For Amex I can choose to work out of NY, Phoenix or Florida.
Amex will probably be safer and if your WLB is priority then don’t wait. I am also going to be doing the same. My drop is going to be around 150k. You can always go back to Amazon and the first 2 yrs are going to be mostly cash which is not based on stock market fluctuations.
Just an FYI, most AWS leadership meet happened last week and some in the next week. After hiring freeze, and first round of layoffs, there is going to be more. Layoff will get u severance if your team gets impacted.
Idk what to think about these supposedly upcoming layoffs. There’s a bunch of trolling posts, but also some that seem to have some validity in them. I guess we shall see
It’s going to be highly org-dependent. Some AWS services are already running on skeleton crews where cutting additional HC puts the entire business at risk. If you’re working 80 hours / week it sounds like they probably can’t afford to lose you, assuming you’re essential in keeping the lights on for a B2B service customers depend on.
Make it a poll
With that username I can’t do anything but listen to you
28 days PTO sounds insane to me. And that pay is not horrible. Is it enough to support your lifestyle and still save as much as you'd like?
I mean yeah, I’m not in a HCOL area, somewhere in the middle. In terms of the 28 PTO, they don’t give you any holidays, you have to use your PTO bank, but all those 28days are given to you in January and you can take them whenever you want, no need to accrue them. Also you can buy up to 5 days a year of additional PTO, which get deducted each month from you paycheck. I think they also give 6-10 sick days depending on the state
My thought process is go for the title, and better wlb, work 1-2 years and if I need more money, either try promotion or come back to Amazon as an L6 and make 400 k like many of the external offers that I’ve seen here on Blind and also on the pay equity slack channel
Can you get PIP and then take severance and go to AMEX?
But why would I want to get piped? I’ve been working my ass off , and I want to hopefully come back one day. Why not just exit gracefully, and then come back as an L6 after 1-3 years of senior engineering at Amex for example?
Definitely agree with bluereward. Why burn bridges for a couple months of severance?
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“Great manager”… not really… your direct manager is doing a shitty job if is just passing down L7 pressure…
Yeah, well from what I’ve talked to them, they also seem worried about their job. It’s just a shitty politically based situation