I applied to AWS a few years ago and made it through the full interview loop, but the role ultimately fell through. I was disappointed at the time, though I'm less sure now that joining would have been the right move. A large portion of my professional network who worked at AWS have since moved on, and my feed is full of former employees announcing departures. Is this mainly because of the five-day office policy, AI-related layoffs and reorganizations, the company's high-pressure culture, or something else?
3 Answers
There are probably several things happening at once. Large layoffs and reorganizations since 2023 damaged morale, and some employees left because they expected more cuts. AI is contributing in certain organizations by shifting investment and eliminating or changing roles, but it doesn’t explain the whole pattern. Return-to-office requirements can also be the final reason senior employees with other options decide to leave.
The experience varies a lot by team. Some people stay for a decade or more, especially when they have a supportive manager and interesting work, while others leave after a couple of years because of burnout or a poor leadership change. Also, seeing many former coworkers leave can make the trend look even larger because professional feeds mostly show departures, not the people who are still happily employed. AWS continues to attract applicants because of its scale, pay, and résumé value, even if retention is uneven.
A lot of people point to the roughly four-year mark because of how equity compensation vests. Once a major vesting milestone passes, employees have a natural opportunity to compare offers and move on. Some teams also have forced performance ranking or expectations that a certain percentage of people will be managed out, which creates a competitive and stressful environment even when the business is doing well.
That pressure affects managers too. Even with a strong team, they may still be expected to rank people on a curve or identify someone for performance action, which can push good employees away.