A fresh wave of personal stories shared by current and former Amazon India employees on social media has sparked new discussions about the company’s work culture. In a candid Reddit post, employees talked about facing nonstop pressure, constant judgment and a work environment where results matter more than employee well-being. A user has described the work environment at Amazon India as “overly toxic,” while another calls it “exhausting.”
An Amazon India developer, who worked there for more than five years and got just one promotion, didn’t hold back, calling the workplace “overly toxic.” “You are constantly judged on only your weaknesses, constantly vetted against your peers and always asked to push even more,” the user wrote.
While replying to the post, a user comments, “Being judged only on weakness is the absolute worst part of being working in amazon.”
Pressure of Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs)
Adding to that, the developer wrote, “Focus and PIP is always a sword kept right above your head,” referring to the company’s dreaded Performance Improvement Plan, which many see as the last warning before being fired. The employee confessed to feeling burned out and said, “Pretty exhausted at this point and thinking of putting my papers and focusing on finding a new job at peace.”
Another user responded to the post, sharing their own experience after leaving Amazon. “I had resigned a while ago but I am out of the US and felt it here as well. I had resigned gracefully with no hard feelings,” the user wrote.
Work-life balance over paycheck
But this ex-Amazon worker also pointed out that the pay cut wasn’t as bad as it seemed. At Amazon, they worked up to 60 hours a week, so their actual hourly rate was lower than it is now. “If you take hours worked into consideration, my hourly wage actually increases,” they said.