Startup Story Team
A software engineer who spent 12 years at Amazon has marked his retirement with a frank social-media post that shines a harsh light on the tech giant’s changing work culture. Once a proud advocate of Jeff Bezos’ “Day 1” ethos of perpetual startup-style urgency, the engineer now calls Amazon a “Day 2 company,” burdened by fear-driven performance policies and rigid return-to-office rules. The post quickly resonated with current and former Amazonians, sparking a wider debate on whether the company’s celebrated culture has begun to erode.
Life Inside Amazon: 2012 – 2024:
The employee joined Amazon in 2012, a period when flexible schedules and remote work were still encouraged. He recalls a highly collaborative environment guided by the “Day 1” principle-an attitude meant to keep even a trillion-dollar behemoth as nimble as a startup.
The ‘Day 2’ Shift:
Over the last few years, however, the engineer says the company’s soul has shifted. Amazon’s embrace of strict return-to-office (RTO) mandates, competitive stack-ranking, and aggressive performance-improvement plans (PIPs) has, in his view, bred “pressure and fear of termination” rather than healthy competition. “Watching so many people pushed out due to RTO and the PIP culture completely changed how I view the company,” he wrote, concluding that Amazon’s vaunted customer obsession now takes a back seat to internal metrics.
Layoffs and Leadership Instability:
The critique didn’t stop at policy. The engineer pointed to a wave of layoffs-including roughly 100 roles cut in Amazon’s Devices & Services group in May 2025-as proof that efficiency drives now trump innovation. He also blamed frequent leadership reshuffles under CEO Andy Jassy for unsettling teams and diluting focus.
An Echo Across Big Tech:
Responses poured in from ex-colleagues who echoed similar grievances: inflexible RTO demands, opaque performance reviews, and a growing disconnect between top-down directives and day-to-day realities. Their stories mirror those heard at other tech titans where pandemic-era perks have been rolled back in favor of stricter oversight and efficiency pushes.
Why It Matters for the Industry:
Amazon’s culture has long been a benchmark for fast-moving tech companies. If insiders now deem it “Day 2,” rivals may struggle even more to preserve a startup mindset as they scale. For job-seekers, the episode underscores the importance of looking beyond glossy employer-branding to the lived experience on the ground. And for Amazon, the public critique serves as a timely reminder: culture is as fragile as it is foundational.
