I've been here for 8 months and I haven't had a day off. There isn't great work-life balance and you CAN'T say it out loud otherwise you are openly chastised by leadership. I overheard a leader say that "you've gotta work 6-7 days a week otherwise you can't be promoted" I moved my family across the country for what I thought was an incredible opportunity only to not see them.
That New York Times article was mostly accurate. I don't see people crying but they're tired, miss their families and their lives. It's interesting that we recently received an award for being a great place to work. It's blatantly to obvious they are trying to improve their image in the wake of the article last summer.
It's obvious that Amazon doesn't care about its people beyond the long hours. You only get 6 holidays and 2 weeks of vacation when you start. You get 5 "personal" days in lieu of sick time. The 401k is awful, I'm going to lose out on saving for retirement by working here and the medical benefits are average at best. One of their principals is frugality and that extends to how they treat their greatest asset that brings them their bonuses and profits-their people.
If you're considering Amazon, consider a company instead that actually cares about you as a person. I'm stuck here now for another long year because of my relo agreement but I plan on leaving right after that's over.
