In this context, it refers to the tenure of the Amazonian. Full time employees that are <5 years tenure have a badge with a blue border, those with 5-10 years tenure have an orangeish border, 10-15 have a red border, etc...

Orange/red badges are typically a big deal because it is very rare for people to last at Amazon past even 2-3 years, nevermind 5 years.

"Very rare" is, at best, a huge exaggeration. I can't post numbers, obviously, but from what I can tell based on employee available tools it's at least 25% of corporate employees. It seems rarer than it is for two reasons:

1. The company has grown rapidly, so many/most people seem fairly new. That doesn't mean that people that have been here a long time are leaving (although some obviously are). 2. The tool available to employees shows tenure of all employees, including fulfillment center workers, which are much less likely to be long-term.

"Orange/red badges are typically a big deal because it is very rare for people to last at Amazon past even 2-3 years, nevermind 5 years. "

Are some career ladder jumpers actually planning to leave anyway after 2-3 years so they can leverage compensation offers between FANG?

People need to get out of these terrible orgs. In mine, I'd estimate >50% get to 5. The average tenure is a lot lower because the org has grown from ~15 to ~70 people in the past 5 years.

You can tell it's bullshit because no one calls them orange badges unless it's their 2nd week on the job. They're yellow badges. Not to be confused with vendor badges, which are also yellow.

I think he's referring to tenure, blue -> 0-5 yrs FTE, orange 5-10 yrs FTE