Leave Msft for Amazon (not AWS)?
Have an opportunity to leave Microsoft for Amazon (not AWS). Current team has good manager and high visibility, but tech stack is a little old. Currently remote. Amazon would be onsite 3 days a week. Tech stack sounds more interesting, but worried about toxic culture and PIP. Not sure how I feel about the manager.
Go to Amazon, stay for a year or two, collect that cash, bounce and get L5 at another company for another 100k+ bump.
Tech Stack is overrated. You need high visibility project about which you can talk big shit stuff.. which will be helpful for your next gig interview. Even if itās non AWS, Amazon will make you work crazy compared to most teams in Microsoft. I see a good pay bump for you if you move to Amazon .. so maybe that will motivate you to work harder. Mentally prepare yourself to work harder, quicker, smarter at Amazon if you donāt want to fall into the red zone (focus/PIP) in your first few years, because you will be compared with other L5s who will have a greater tribal/institutionalized Amazon ecosystem knowledge which will give them an edge to deliver better.
It's really not that hard. The bar is on the floor at Amazon, if you work there for a bit you'll see how bad a lot of the engineers are. Unless your manager dislikes you you'd have to try hard to get PIP'd.
I worked at both, and bar was much higher at Amazon. Microsoft was awful. Much longer hours. Much worse WLB. Much worse standards. People looked at me like I insulted their mother when I asked if there was documentation for a single thing, or any project plans. It is against Microsoft's religion to document anything. Lots more opportunity at Amazon to take on big initiatives.
What org?
What happened to Amazon's bonus? š³š³š³
Location? Location plays an important role in you TC
Evaluate oncall, pip culture, toxicity, benefits, etc before making a decision.
Ask for 315k TC. 170k base, 120k SB1 easily doable.
I did the move other way. After 5 years at Amazon (non aws), I moved to Microsoft. I swear I will not go back to Amazon ever again. Overall Amazon has a toxic work environment. After moving to MIcrosoft, I realized how bad I was treated in Amazon. Once you plunge into that toxic pool, you would āadjustā to your lower quality of life eventually. It will kind of get stuck there. In Amazon, Management did not care about employees well being. Their ultimate goal was to squeeze the last drop out of the employees, and push the bottom into the URA. Due to stress and toxicity, even well meaning people will degrade to toxic ones. If you want more money, try to look for it in other places, not Amazon. I say this from my own experience. Our mental health and well being is worth way more than the money.
Depends on which team you land at MS. Some teams are toxic af with the same issues you described with the added disadvantage of lower pay
Even you land on a bad team at MS, you will be still better off. You will avoid all the company wide downsides present in Amazon such as forced URA quota, lack of any perks in the name of āfrugalityā, less parental leave, etc. Moreover, the probability of landing on a bad team at Amazon is much higher than in Microsoft. See Blindās pulse rating for both companies. It says something
Trust me man, stay at MSFT. If anything, use your offer to get a raise at MSFT. I'll be honest though, whatever you decide won't be bad. Going to AMZN will diversify your resume and show you have a lot of experience at big tech companies. I think for mental health you may want to stick with MSFT. MSFT has a really bright future.
Wow Microsoft really does underpay the shit out of people huh?
Yup. I mean itās not terrible, above average for industry. But definitely peanuts compared to rest of FAANG.
Nah imo you should be making at least 180k. Know your worth