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0 pointsbelval4y ago0 comments

Disclaimer: I work at AWS.

I see comments about the culture a lot and I feel the need to chime in and say that it's not actually bad? At least in my team, the work life balance is fine, my manager is great and the projects are interesting.

Not saying that it's the same for every SDE, but some of the stories you read online make it seem like they shackle you to your desk and PIP you into submission.

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deltaonefour4y ago

What about during review season where someone on your team MUST get pipped?

I know that there are teams that are doing well. But if one person or more on your team gets pipped every year something is wrong...

belvalOP4y ago

I actually had a talk with my manager about that, as I was curious about how it actually worked (yes you can ask your manager it's not illegal).

There IS an expectation of managers being able to identify the bottom performers in their team, but for the PIP part it's up to the manager. They absolutely can push back and say that no-one in their team deserves to get PIP'ed. They would have to write a reason (i.e. "No one on my team is performing low enough that I'd prefer re-hiring") but that's pretty much it.

Anecdotes on the Internet make it seem like we are all scared at review time to see who is going to get PIP'ed, but that's just not how it is...

deltaonefour4y ago

I think your viewing it from a microcosm and that the rest of the internet actually probably has a more accurate view given that you had to ask your manager about this.

What I'm hearing from others is this... there are good teams at amazon... amazon is huge but the overall culture is not what you describe. I guess I'm looking for a more overall picture rather then someone viewing it from the perspective of a good team.

>They absolutely can push back and say that no-one in their team deserves to get PIP'ed

You realize that a pip is not normal? Even one person getting PIP'ed on a team is is an event and abnormal. The fact that a manager has to "push back" for not pip-ing somone raises a red flag for me.

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0 pointsbelval4y ago0 comments

Disclaimer: I work at AWS.

Not saying that it's the same for every SDE, but some of the stories you read online make it seem like they shackle you to your desk and PIP you into submission.

0 comments

deltaonefour4y ago

What about during review season where someone on your team MUST get pipped?

I know that there are teams that are doing well. But if one person or more on your team gets pipped every year something is wrong...

belvalOP4y ago

I actually had a talk with my manager about that, as I was curious about how it actually worked (yes you can ask your manager it's not illegal).

Anecdotes on the Internet make it seem like we are all scared at review time to see who is going to get PIP'ed, but that's just not how it is...

deltaonefour4y ago

I think your viewing it from a microcosm and that the rest of the internet actually probably has a more accurate view given that you had to ask your manager about this.

>They absolutely can push back and say that no-one in their team deserves to get PIP'ed

You realize that a pip is not normal? Even one person getting PIP'ed on a team is is an event and abnormal. The fact that a manager has to "push back" for not pip-ing somone raises a red flag for me.

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse