Falling into the hell hole

If you're thinking about working for Amazon - Please do not do it! It’s a horrible place that will ruin your health, your self esteem, your drive, and your relationships. After working there for a period of years, I am free and want to prevent others from falling into this hell hole. 

The first problem is micromanagement. From Bezos (who is a notorious micromanager) on down, managers are incentived to micromanage. Look at the principles. Micromanaging is what “Dive Deep” is really about. If your manager doesn’t do it, he’s in trouble. And I am talking about intense hardcore tell me everything you are doing, and 5 reasons why, while I yell at you micromanagement. Amazon is the big league of micromanagement. If you don’t like being micromanaged, Amazon is not the right place for you.

The second problem is the lack of respect for innovation. As much as they claim to be metrics-driven, it's all lies. You have to drink the Kool-aid. At Amazon, it’s about Amazon. They don’t care that you know how to do something better or faster for the customer. You need to do it the Amazon way. Or the way your inexperienced manager says is the Amazon way, anyway. That’s what matters. 

The third and biggest problem is bell curving. There is a strong bell curve in place for how you will be reviewed. Yes, there is backstabbing, and if you are in the bottom 10% you will be termed “LE” (least effective) and given a PIP which you aren’t meant to succeed at. Then you will be out. No matter that you just moved from Pakistan or whatever. Tough crap. And yes, each team needs to hit the bell curve. Because even though you might all be awesome, some of you are less awesome (not usually technically by the way, you just didn’t kiss the right butt).

The fourth problem is health issues. There are health problems galore. Many people at Amazon have health issues, are taking meds, get divorced, or have other family issues. People drink a lot, and generally everyone is miserable. But, most of them moved for Amazon, and now they are stuck. Or they think they will make it. Until they get LE’d.

The last problem I'll write about now (because I'm just tired of mentally reliving this crap) is pay. Great pay is a mirage. Amazon pays a lot. Why? Because they have HUGE hiring and retention problems and people know it. Why do you think they had a hiring event in your hometown in the Ukraine? Because they like the cold or whatever?? No! They need to search far and wide for people who don’t know or don’t care about what I am telling you. Still not convinced? Seriously? Even with all the other companies you could go to that care about you, even a little? Fine. Negotiate a great comp deal. Be aggressive and ask for what you want. Then double it. They are desperate and will likely give you what you want. However, keep in mind that with about 1 year average tenure, you are not likely to get that money for long. And you will owe part of that money back. You just sold your soul to the devil.

I could write for many hours about how bad Amazon is, but I'm tired and will stop here for now. Maybe I'll send in more tomorrow...