[amzn-336495]

Amazon tries to trap people through control by visas, and they will go so far as to relocate people overseas to Seattle. They have a fucked up system where rank and file get the darwin treatment but management gets the rewards. They will pay bonuses around $250k, $500k, $1 million to senior managers, directors, and VPs respectively to abuse the shit out of employees. The "PIP someone who is trying to get away from their abusive manager" is their oldest trick in their book.

Something needs to be done to help people financially who are looking for a way out from the abuse.

[cwilkes]

What really angered me about that article was Amazon trying to say that this was a "colleague" -- he was on a PIP. Which is pretty much Amazon speak for a dead man walking (no pun intended).

[outworlder]

Pretty much everywhere

The most sensible option is to do the bare minimum acceptable work and use all the leftover energy to find some other place, as the clock is ticking. Depending on the company, you have until the next quarter or the next performance review. Or the next headcount reduction.

[dingaling]

At a Big Corp where I worked, I think it was three 'satisfactory' ratings in a row which resulted in a PIP.

Satisfactory: fulfilling expectations or needs. But not in Corporate Nu-Speak.

[lostboys67]

I recall British telecom it was "needs some improvement" that triggered a pip that but everyone has some thing that needs improvement.

Given the will you can find an excuse to put anyone on a PIP.

[tyingq]

I'm pretty sure the real purpose of a PIP, everywhere they are used, is to build up sufficient documentation to fire someone. That can't be a good experience on the receiving end.

[mikestew]

I'm pretty sure the real purpose of a PIP, everywhere they are used, is to build up sufficient documentation to fire someone.

Of course it is. As I was telling coworkers this morning, any time I've had a direct on a PIP it's to do the hoop-jumping paperwork to satisfy HR. I've already decided I don't want that person on my team. And to be fair, that's because I've already tried "performance improvement" (regular 1:1s, goal setting, the like), and concluded that more of it isn't going to turn a bad fit into a good one.

So, yeah, if you find yourself on a PIP best start polishing that resume, because you're not long for that company no matter what HR tells you.

[adrianggg]

can confirm 100% true. Awful place to learn and develop. Look elsewhere. Do some research.

[IndianAstronaut]

Sounds like Capital One as well, which is mirroring Amazon's culture as well as stack ranking system.

[mcherm]

Perhaps you have experience in a different part of Capital One than I do. While the annual assessment process does bear some resemblance to stack ranking (and to be clear, I think this assessment process is one of Capital One's flaws and it would be better if it were changed), the rest of the description of Amazon's culture does not sound like what I see working here at Capital One.

I see a company that, 5 years ago, was 80% outsourced and now is more like 20% outsourced and continuing to change. I see a company where the developers and technical experts are given a huge amount of power and influence in the direction of the company. As I type this at 8:15 in the morning, I look around the floor of my building and see only two other people in early; yesterday at 5:45 PM there were only 4 others and they were playing Foosball. Sure, when you're on-task you are expected to cooperate with your teammates and to be productive, but the attitude is not one of "deliver or die", more of "let's see what we can achieve!".

Please don't think I'm dismissing your experience: you are probably in a different part of the company and have a different experience. But your description didn't resemble my own experience, and I thought that was worth mentioning.

[IndianAstronaut]

I have heard of other teams like that and I am jealous. But there are some managers stuck in the past and an old way of thinking. Those that think it is acceptable to play the stack ranking politics, bully underlings, micromanage, etc. I do hope things change soon.

>deliver or die

Oddly enough, I was told this very recently. Deliver right away or bear the consequences.

[geodel]

They are hiring lot of people from Amazon etc in NoVA area. So Amazon culture doesn't seem surprising. I visited a few times to their McLean offices, the place looked little cultish to me.