Payscale.com puts the average employee tenure at 1 year, which is very low, but comparable to Google (1.1 years). Apple is 2 years, Microsoft is 4 years.
I think there's a bit of a disconnect between genuinely caring about people and treating them like criminals. I can understand drug testing a truck driver, but drug testing developers makes no sense to me.
I don't think the description of people's experiences is bullshit. I can only speak for what I've witnessed in the company, which is a fair amount. However, there are cases where the writers clearly misconstrue things or take things out of context. See, for instance, their treatment of Bezos' Princeton commencement speech, highlighted above. So I don't see the article as an even-handed description of Amazon's corporate culture. When I look at the totality of David Streitfeld's reporting, I think he has an agenda when it comes to Amazon.
Yes, it's true that as part of the interview process they ask behavioral questions to try to use the leadership principles to evaluate a candidate. An example might be, "can you tell me about a time when you had to build something but you had very vague requirements". So I think the leadership principles are taken seriously, but I don't think they're treated as gospel. Bezos usually says something in the all-hands meeting like "these are our leadership principles unless you know better ones". People usually roll their eyes at the "frugality" leadership principle - the term "frupid" is used pretty frequently.
The high on-call load is a pretty frequently complaint.
I haven't worked at Google or Netflix, so I don't really have a basis for comparison.
In general, I think Amazon is a pretty demanding environment, but I think if the environment was as Streitfeld describes it, I wouldn't do well. I don't think I have that great a work ethic and I don't think I handle stress or workplace conflict particularly well, yet I've managed to be successful at Amazon.
David Streitfeld has written a number of strident, highly-critical articles on Amazon. What he's writing here doesn't reflect my experience as an SDE in a couple of different divisions in the company. I can't speak to what people in marketing or vendor management experience.
Take the first paragraph for instance:
> They are told to forget the “poor habits” they learned at previous jobs
I don't recall anyone telling me this
> When they “hit the wall” from the unrelenting pace, there is only one solution: “Climb the wall,” others reported
I don't recall hearing either of these phrases used.
> To be the best Amazonians they can be, they should be guided by the leadership principles, 14 rules inscribed on handy laminated cards. When quizzed days later, those with perfect scores earn a virtual award proclaiming, “I’m Peculiar” — the company’s proud phrase for overturning workplace conventions.
The leadership principles are repeated pretty frequently, although I think most people take them with a grain of salt. The quiz is called 100% Peculiar, not "I'm Peculiar". I don't recall it being about leadership principles at all. I recall it being about things like how Amazon doesn't delete negative customer reviews because the company sees it as being in its long-term interest for reviews to be trustworthy. The other thing on the quiz I remember is that Amazon likes to use informal language with customers, like "Where's my stuff". [Edit: I should also point out that it's not a mandatory thing and nobody cares if you don't do it or don't do well enough on it to get the little badge on your page in the company directory.]
I think the parking allowance is something like $130/month.