What it's really like to work at Amazon, according to employees

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What it's really like to work at Amazon, according to employees

Jeff Bezos

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Employee reviews appear to tell a different story from what was reported in 2015.

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  • Amazon has fostered the reputation of having high employee burnout.
  • But employees have shared several pros to working at Amazon through Glassdoor that many people might not have known about.
  • Pros of working with the company include great compensation and ample opportunity to learn. Cons employees report include inconsistency in management and a cutthroat environment.


Amazon has a reputation for having a churn and burn company culture.

In the past several years, articles have surfaced in the media describing the company's approach to inspiring performance from staff.

For instance, in 2015, the New York Times published an article in which employees referred to Amazon's work culture as 'bruising.' Bob Olson, a former Amazon Books Marketing employee, said then that "nearly every person I worked with, I saw cry at their desk."

Other employees also said Amazon used tactics to optimize performance at the expense of employee well-being.

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However, after taking a closer look at more recent employee feedback, the company does not seem to be facing the same amount of criticism that it used to.

While the average company rating on Glassdoor from current and former employees is a 3.4 out of a possible 5, Amazon receives an above average rating of 3.8 as of February 1, 2018. This is up from its score of 3.4 in 2015.

Of the 19,439 current and former employees who have submitted Amazon reviews on Glassdoor, 74% said that they would recommend the company to a friend.

Amazon also rates favorably on Glassdoor in other categories including CEO approval, culture and values, work-life balance, benefits, and career opportunities.

To get a better sense of what it's really like to work at Amazon now, Business Insider sifted through hundreds of reviews submitted to Glassdoor within the last year. Here's what employees have to say about the company these days.

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This story was originally published by Glassdoor.