Not So Glamorous - Area Manager Amazon Employee Review

1.0
Jul 29, 2010
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Decent pay, decent benefits. You can move up in the ranks if you are willing to throw people under the bus and use buzz words such as green-belt, six-sigma, standard deviation even though you don't really understand them completely.

Cons

Company motivates employees with fear and pressure. Senior management pressures associates and managers to just get the job done without offering any help or guidence. This is because the system is broken and they don't have the answers either. But instead of realizing this, they will throw you under the bus any chance they get because they fear for their reputation. Because the business model of Amazon includes very tight margins on their products, the company tries to save money everywhere; as a result, the facilities are run like sweat shops and associates are treated like slaves. In addition, equipment is very rickety and often creates safety hazards for workers. While the pay is decent, as a manager you will end up working so much overtime that your salary will be comparable to an hourly associate's (again, part of the business plan to cut costs). The retention rate for Area Managers is ridiculous--something like 2-3 months. And the reason they like to hire military is because they know veterans are likely to put up with more crap than their civilian coutnerparts. My guess is if they didn't hire military, the retention rate would be right at about 1 week. Don't be fooled by the name Amazon and the appeal that it seems to carry because it is an "innovative" dot com company. Instead, think "Online Walmart" who is actually one of their biggest (if not biggest) competitors.

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5.0
Apr 20, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Very talented co workers. Access to world class mentorship, Hyper scale projects. Nice culture

Cons

Stack ranking could be stressful.

5.0
Jan 10, 2016
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Really smart people, a lot of opportunity for growth, always encouraged to be innovative, think big, and create something new. Competitive salary and benefits with other major tech companies. 100% self motivating work environment. No dress code and 4 legged friends are welcome.

Cons

You have to be self motivated. NO ONE will hold your hand and tell you that you're doing a great job. If you need constant affirmations from management, this company isn't for you.

3159
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