Pros
- Some coworkers really seem to care about making each other and the company successful. - Most coworkers are really intelligent and hard working. - Customers seem to love our product. - Audible provides content that has the potential to improve peoples' lives.
Cons
- If stack ranking is in use (as an Amazon company), it isn't having desired effect. Enough of the middle management is at each others' throats to make the work environment awkward at a minimum, while also promoting aggressive, mediocre talent into management positions. - The leadership is averse to risk, but product and engineering aren't optimized to quickly A/B test iterative, lower-risk improvements. - Another review ascribes "startup pacing" to Audible. I don't know what that employees experience has been, but startups I've worked for have launched several large, complex features in a years' time (with smaller teams). In equivalent time at Audible, it's been non-trivial to make minor changes to a handful of pages. This is largely due to middle management crippling the decision-making process. - No transparency into available career development paths (if they exist). I was told that algorithms determine pay and seniority. - Much of management doesn't seem to be aware the path to innovation requires coming to terms with the amount of tech debt and moving away from dependency on Amazon's internal tech. - Several months of work often lead to nowhere. Be prepared to experience deja vu, as ideas are often resurrected and then scuttled. - The office is in Newark, and commute is far from ideal coming from New York.