[hunter321]

As much as everyone hates on Amazon, no manager can block a internal transfer, maximum they can do is keep you for 4 weeks (with a very, very good reason).

The average tenure on many, many teams is 6 months.

Does help starve off the boredom.

[throwaway9191aa]

As long as you don't talk to your manager ahead of time. I watched a colleague tell our manager that the job wasn't in line with what was explained (colleague was right, he wasn't a fit). Instead of the manager moving him into a new roll, my colleague was PIP'd. When my colleague did try to transfer, the PIP blocked it.

If you have a good manager, maybe its fine. But if your manager needs some headcount to cut.... don't trust them.

[MelvinButtsESQ]

IBM

[mcast]

That's untrue, a manager can put their employee into a performance improvement program (without even needing to inform them) which would block them from any internal transfers.

[Thiez]

How does a pip effect improved performance when the employee isn't even aware they're in one? Is trying to switch teams the only way to discover that, or are there other indirect ways?

[wombatpm]

But HR sees it as a way to prevent a subpar employee from escaping the natural HR process. The fact that you have not been informed yet is just a failure of current management to follow process, but does not obsolve you of your subpar performance. HR is there for the company, not for you.

[NortySpock]

But really, if the only goal is to not be able to shirk a PIP by repeated team-hopping, the PIP should just follow you as you move teams rather than blocking your progress, right?

"Here's Joe Candidate, he applied for your open position, and he has a 3 month old PIP on track to be resolved in 3 months. Accept or decline the transfer to your team?"

[wpietri]

In theory that would be good. The issue is that a lot of managers don't like dealing with problems. If somebody is doing badly and maybe should be fired (which is what a PIP is supposed to indicate) you don't want a manager just passing the buck to some unsuspecting team.

Ultimately, I think you're right. It's impossible to build a bureaucratic pachinko machine that will make the correct personnel decisions. You really need line managers dedicated to coaching staff, and higher-level managers coaching line managers. One-size-fits-all rules are not the optimal solution. But bad management is endemic in so many organizations that I'm sure these abuses go on all the time.

[lupire]

Amazon employees attempt to rotate to Google every 2 years.

[the_rectifier]

False. In many teams half of the engineers are randomly put on pip and cannot switch team.

[wpietri]

Half?!? In most companies, a manager with half their people on PIPs would indicate the manager is really fucking things up somehow. Bad at hiring or bad at managing. That's not the case at Amazon?

[throw_nbvc1234]

People will believe everything (negative) they hear about amazon. And not bother to verify any of it.

[walshemj]

It would take several weeks to get to grips with a new team / project - must be very hard to get much work out of a team member before they are off.