Is this really worth 24x7x365 ?
Pros
Really good people work here. The management is made of smart and qualified people. Financial stability since it's backed by Amazon Great technology and great place to learn new skills, fast. Gateway to better jobs within Amazon Career opportunities Good salary Great induction program for new employees ("The orange week").
Cons
Absolutely no work/life balance. You are always on: pager, skype, you name it. Benefits are not on par with the rest of the industry. The 401k is minimal. There's no bonus structure. Considering that Kiva is mostly a SW company, its benchmark for compensation should be the other companies in the SW industry. There was some expectation that once Amazon had acquired the company they would have improved but that did not happen. Amazon increased the workload, introduced bureaucracy and imposed security constraints that crippled what once was a very nimble start-up. The performance review which is not bound to a bonus structure. It is used as a tool to threaten employees and coerce them to work even harder, under the threat of termination.
