Maybe things changed in the last 3-6 months? But from what I have gathered, from people just talking in slack channels, Blind, and friends who work there, is not good at all. People have received emails from L4s having nervous breakdowns after being bullied by managers and peers. If you want , you can search your mailbox.
I haven't seen any such email. It definitely can be a lot of work at times, esp around re:invent, and I'm sure there are those with bad experience.
I'm just saying, it's worth giving a shot. You might like it. If you don't, switch orgs/teams. You can switch just a couple months after joining if it doesn't work out for you. I switched from my last org quite quickly cause while I had good work life balance, the work was just so boring.
The thing is , if you are on a visa the "you might as well give it a chance" doesn't work, does it? Because those people are usually the ones exploited by their managers, as they have leverage over them (when you are on a visa and get laid off , you only have 60 days to find another company that is willing to sponsor your visa). You are ignoring the pressure and mental burden that L4s on visas go through with unfair pivot processes, etc. I'm glad you liked your time there, but if you dive deeper, and ask around, you will see how many of these people are having a hard time.
Again not sure if you are talking about dataplane. I met many people there (even many new grad L4s in fact), who are very enthusiastic and passionate about what they do in that team.