Amazon reviews

Be aware of what you see online (Linkedin, Facebook, Web career site, etc.) about community involvement, volunteerism, corprate team building exercises and the 'look at how much fun we are having and how amazing it is to work here!!!' vibe is/are 100% corporate ativities. They do not exist in the field, in any capacity, whatsoever. It's simply marketing to entice candidates. Amazon is a 24/7/365 business. So expect to work overnights as well. Yes the recruiter will deftly avoid answering schedule questions, yes even if you are lucky enough to initially get a coveted day shift. Yes regardless of your kids, husband/wife's schedule. Reality is people transfer, resign or get promoted all at breakneck speed at Amazon which means in very short order there will be a vacancy on overnight that needs to be filled... you can protest but it won't do much good. Communication is sorely lacking. Communication to help shape a common purpose or best practices or really anything is almost non-existent in the Amazon Fresh business. It doesn't exist in the business as a whole nor in any building I've worked in. Zero work life balance. I've heard rumors that Jeff Bezos himself said he hates that term. The culture reflects that. Within a Fulfillment Center you will never work less than a 12hr day. My experience is that 14hr-16hr days for myself and my peers is the expectation and the norm. That is 5 days a week and you can expect your boss to call/email/text you on your days 'off'. By the way this is in no way tied to a peek season schedule.... this has been the norm my whole time at Amazon whether it's December or June. Keep in mind that you will be on your feet almost the entire 12-16hr shift there are no offices (nor almost any tables or chairs) in Amazon Fresh buildings. Kind of a funny aside... people at Amazon (due to work schedule and stress I believe) all look older than they are. There are plenty of red sunken eyes, heavy heads, premature wrinkles really just general body language that screams 'I'm tired'. One of Amazon's Leadership Principles is 'Frugality'. Generally a good principal to live by, I believe. It is a negative though as it pertains to associate incentives, moral and recognition at Amazon Fresh. No matter how hard folks work on completing some genuinely difficult projects or tasks there is a miniscule budget to run contests or recognize outstanding contribution. You would hope that someone in Seattle would acknowledge that an occasional pizza party won't impact profitability terribly and can just be a genuinely thoughtful gesture that would be appreciated. But alas that is not the case. I could go on about a number of other 'con's but in short... Amazon treats its employees (from associates to level 7+ managers) as commodities to be exploited. Chances are excellent this work will cause you and your family significant stress due to extremely long hours and time away from home. Even during your limited time away from work you will be so tired and fried that you will be a mere shell of your former self. If you are prepared to basically give up a personal life, family, vacation, working out ...really everything not Amazon related and pick up an oar on a 1st century ship crossing the ocean than Amazon is for you. After all the money is good. You might be that one in a hundred who has a fulfilling career in an FC but chances are excellent you will dislike the job and if you can afford to, you will leave as so many before you have. Good luck you beautiful, unique, amazing snowflake if you decide to join!

Excessive overtime, minimal work-life balance, and not as many perks as you would think. If you are chosen to work nightshift, you basically wake up, go to work, leave work, sleep, and go back to work. During PEAK season (Thanksgiving to Christmas), the stress is even higher and hours are even more crazy. Everyone is required to work 6 days straight, associated and HR included. During this time it is not uncommon for managers to work 8+days straight. The fulfillment center environment is extremely different than the Seattle Corporate HQ that most people envision working at Amazon would be like. Their tuition reimbursement program only covers up to an Associate's degree on most popular fields of study. Stocks don't vest fully until after 4 years. 20% vests after the first year, then only 5% every 6 months.