Amazon PIP

5d 56 Comments

I have come across many Amazon PIP stories on Blind and to be honest. It’s quite scary.. can someone explain if this is normal?

Was there others who had the same concern but ended up joining Amazon and it was completely fine?

TIA

TC: 🥜

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TOP 56 Comments
  • Lynden Incorporated
    DFJz86

    Lynden Incorporated

    DFJz86
    What's up with the influx of these posts tonight? I just signed my offer a few hours ago...
    5d 15
    • The performance management process is not irrational at Amazon. Communicate well and align on priorities with your manager and product team, do well on design docs ,task breakdowns to provide a good estimate and try to hit your estimates. And take your Oncall seriously. Those alone will keep you in the high end of the ratings. The people that get into trouble are those that either don’t have the necessary skill , communication skills or don’t align on priorities.
      5d
    • Out with the old, in with the new.
      5d
  • Amazon
    bananalvr

    Go to company page Amazon

    bananalvr
    Personally think that PIP culture is completely team/org dependent. What you hear about PIP is actually true in some orgs and doesn’t exist at all in other orgs.

    To an extent, I think the effort you need to put in to avoid PIP is different in each team. To me, it kind of felt like “meets expectations” in one team can be “needs improvement” aka PIP on another team. Some teams have the budget/culture so you actually have to try to get PIP’d. Some teams are the exact opposite. I’ve heard of people getting PIP’d because of a product not generating enough revenue despite the engineers performing relatively well.

    I also think it has to do with how lucky you are with your manager/leadership. The politics game is going to be real at any relatively large company. If you’re lucky, not playing the politics game will only affect your promos. If unlucky, it will get you PIP’d. Just feel like it’s easier to get PIP’d at Amazon than at other big tech companies but maybe I’m biased.
    5d 1
    • Amazon
      bananalvr

      Go to company page Amazon

      bananalvr
      If you establish the right connections and ask the right leading questions, you might be able to figure it out within the first month or so what your team is like. Or at the very least, you’ll get to catch some wind of whether or not people are being unfairly PIP’d…
      5d
  • Amazon
    lumpias

    Go to company page Amazon

    lumpias
    I’ve been at Amazon 5+ years now and being worried about pips has never crossed my mind. The only people who I’ve ever seen pipped were clearly slacking/didn’t seem to care about their job. If you were able to get a job at Amazon, you’ll be able to do well! Work a normal 40hr week with *occasional* (not normal) more busy periods around a launch, give your job full effort during your working hours, and you’ll be completely fine. It’s not worth stressing about!
    5d 6
    • Amazon
      aG37cA

      Go to company page Amazon

      aG37cA
      Feel the need to reply here too. Whilst I believe Amazon EU is quite different from a culture perspective than Amazon US, at least working for Amazon EU so far has been quite a good experience. On the other hand, you every now and then receive mails where they are offering ridiculous high referral bonuses if you refer someone for a specific team. But ppl usually leave those teams because of the workload, it's not that they get PIPed there.
      @lumpias are you US or EU based?
      5d
    • Amazon
      TruthSlaya

      Go to company page Amazon

      TruthSlaya
      Alexa org is a mess so not sure how you didn't see anyone getting pip'd. Ohh yes they don't tell anyone who got pipped and was put on pivot before it. The person has to silently take the hit.All managers know though.
      You are lucky to not fall in the URA quota but that definitely does not mean those who got piped were being slackers or anything.
      It all comes down to stack ranking and your manager.
      5d
  • Amazon
    smkdbmhh

    Go to company page Amazon

    smkdbmhh
    I'm nearing 10y at Amazon... PIP happened to me specifically on my 2nd year. There was no fluffy "dev plan" (that I know of) and "pivot" definitely did not exist. I thought I wasn't doing so great, then I initiated a meeting with my manager to discuss how to make things better. To my surprise, manager FW'ed meeting to HR and she was there taking notes of everything.

    I eventually survived the PIP, changed teams and was promoted 1y after. Bottom line, I think a lot of what was written in the "evidence" was fabricated/amplified. Fortunately, i had 3-4 people in my favor that ultimately saved my job.

    When I became a manager, then I saw that this mechanism happens in all orgs and they are all the same. I guess some people never notice the process because they're not in the bottom 10-20%. I feel bad for people who have underlying issues (like new parents, going through cancer, lost a parent)... Amazon says they care about them, but in practice there is no excuse, nor mercy.

    I stayed at Amazon for so long because I'm learning and I am well compensated, but I feel I'm dodging snake bites every semester.
    5d 3
  • Being a rockstar at work has nothing to do with chances of getting PIPed. It’s all political, almost nothing to do with skill. Can you play the politics? Do you know how to throw people under the bus so that you can get ahead?

    I was at Amazon for 5 years. Trust me, PIP has nothing to do with lack of skill. It’s all about if you can play the game. It’s the most Darwinian shit I have seen.
    5d 1
    • I have never in my life felt more manipulated than my time at Amazon. The leadership principles are designed to work against you.

      See how each of them contradict at least one other one (eg. dive deep vs bias for action. If you focus on one you lose the other. Managers know that and work that against you)
      5d