throwawayfaang2

Not at Amazon because you can't write some silly "customer-centric" pseudo-press-release to justify your effort, so nobody wants to be stuck paying the salaries of teams working on tools. That is why their tooling is always bankrupt.

They would all rather spend money hiring another useless Principal Engineer instead, who will walk around doing nothing but networking with the cabal of useless Principal Engineers.

For a real FANG, yes, that is the case. Working on tooling is insta-impact.

Given the description I assume you worked at Amazon. I worked there too, and I quit for Google.

They are VERY different companies. Google's tooling is unparalleled and maintained by staffed teams, its work force is motivated. It's hard to move the needle - in a large company full of smart people all the easy stuff was done ten years ago, and compliance concerns are everywhere. But none of that is due to lack of tools or motivation.

Google is an engineering company. Amazon is a store that hires engineers because it has no other option.

You seem to be at exactly the point where I was when I left. Yes, the grass is greener on the other side. Do it.