I've been here 4 years. I'm sorry, I'd rather not divulge much more than that.

Stock growth did result in a higher than expected TC, but the number of shares I have vesting will drop substantially over the next 2-3 years. If you're curious, every year I've been here my manager has given me great annual reviews. My base pay is substantially lower than the others on the list.

What are refreshers? Perhaps it's something I know by another term?

Location matters a lot, for all tech companies. Cost of living in Bay Area for example is really high, and salaries reflect that. The exact same position in two different cities can vary by 20% or more depending on location, and that's true for any company.

At Amazon in particular it is standardized such that there are only 2 different regions, 1 for SFBA/NYC and 1 for everywhere else in the US.

Amazon operates in countries other than the US.

It's basically understood at this point that tech salaries are going to be orders of magnitude lower outside of the US, no matter the company, country, or cost of living or economic health of the country.

Are you an SDE?

Btw, which office you’re in can make a gigantic difference. Amazon employees in India make a LOT less than in Seattle, for example.

Being given more stock during annual appraisal