Lack of career development, top-heavy, unappreciated
Pros
You will meet some of the brightest people here who are genuinely interested in technology and getting things done. Truly a place where some of the cutting edge technologies are being developed every day.
Cons
Zero career development. No career development discussions. When you do request for one, they turn it around and ask you to map out what you want. When you do, they don't respond or critique on your plan, or it will be something along the lines of "I know you want... but at the moment that is not possible". Either way, your voice is never heard. Failure to deliver on promises. You're always given new roles and additional responsibilities with the promise that you'll eventually be promoted, but it never happens. Compensation is a joke. Due to the sign-on bonuses and how they're structured, you will actually end up earning less after 2 years. Lack of recognition. I have seen many projects taken away from the local teams and become "globalised", with no recognition given to the pioneers of the projects. Yearly increments are non-existent or very small (< 5%). Amazon Leadership Principles. These principles are good in theory, but in practise they're used against you. You'd be faulted if you spent more than necessary on a campaign for not being "Frugal", because you wanted to be "Customer Obsessed". You'd be faulted for not "Having Backbone" if you said yes to take on an additional job role, yet you'd also be faulted for not having "Ownership" and not thinking of the entire company if you said no. Most of the senior management do not "Dive Deep" and roll up their sleeves. When they do, it'd be a big thing and you'd see emails being sent all over the place. Vested shares. It looks good on paper, but you only get all of it after 4 years. Also, they use it year after year during your yearly review to convince you why you are getting a good deal. No teamwork, no camaraderie. I remember one of the senior management once mentioning he doesn't believe in friends within the workplace because it leads to employees not wanting to perform and outdo one another. No alignment throughout the organization. Working with the corporate team is difficult, the goals are just not aligned and management does not help to make things easier. Most of the time you feel like your managers are against you just to please corporate, instead of backing you in getting things done.
