It's RSUs vesting at:

- 5% after 1yr

- 15% at 2yrs

- 20% every 6 months for years 3 and 4

The 401k match also has a 3 year cliff.

But as they said, years 1-2 you typically get a signing bonus

I was exposed to this while talking to an Amazon recruiter recently, while I also hear stories about how they seem to work people to a breaking point.

The median tenure at AMZN is also 1.5yrs, per linkedin. Their strategy seems to be to work their people extremely hard to earn their RSUs and pay them like plebs with hard caps on earning potential (base comp).

>"... while I also hear stories about how they seem to work people to a breaking point."

Is this a well-known thing then? More so than other FAANGs?

As the other reply said, vesting was 5% first year, 15% second year, then 20% per six months.

As for why: a rebalancing of priorities re work/life/travel balance and a better sense of connectedness to my actual work and the success of the company. Not gonna lie though, I look back at what I left on the table and the AMZN share price over the past 2 years and I still wonder if it was the right choice.