No work life balance: Long hours, several midnight launches scheduled even on major holidays and weekends, and no extra days off to compensate. On call 7 days a week every few weeks. Working from home even occasionally, is not well seen.
Frugality is a company value, but they take it to the extreme. If you need a headset because your job requires several phone calls, you have to purchase it. I needed Visio because my job requires several diagrams, and I was told to draw them by hand instead. T&E below the industry, you end up putting money out of your pocket on business trips.
Being self critical is another company value, but leadership understands it as only providing negative feedback, not acknowledging achievements, and disregarding wins. With time this becomes discouraging and frustrating.
Following the example of many managers and directors, people tend to be confrontational and destructive. People confuse being professionally aggressive with being aggressive at each other. Never in 25 years I have heard so many people cursing in meetings and even worse, trying to publicly embarrass their peers when they disagree.
Very high turnaround. In my group, 12 people have left in just five months. This increases the workload even more for the ones still left.
Very hard for people who care about their families to succeed. Especially moms with young kids have a very hard time meeting their goals. If their kids get sick, they get whines for having to work from home. If you care about your family and dream of working in Amazon, think it twice. Seriously.
Look in YouTube for the documentary the BBC produced with a hidden camera in the UK fulfilment center. You will get an idea of how little employees are valued in this company.
