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I quit my six-figure software engineering job at Amazon after just over a year. It had been my dream job, so leaving was a harder decision than I expected.
In this video, I share what changed: feeling disconnected from the impact of my work, the operational burden, the constant turnover on my team, and the layoffs that made me rethink why I was staying. I also talk about searching for a new job while still working and what helped me realize there were other opportunities out there.
I’m grateful for the people I met and everything I learned at Amazon ❤️ I’m excited to share what comes next.
📍 Chapters
0:00 My Amazon dream job
1:21 Big tech doesn’t mean big impact
2:09 The burden
3:42 The revolving door
4:43 The layoffs
6:49 Job searching
8:07 Why I decided to leave
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24 Comments
@sarahliyt · October 23, 2026 at 11:23 am
hello friends! life update: i did quit my software engineering role at amazon 🙃 in this video i go over all the reasons that lead me to making this super difficult decision. thank you to everyone who has supported me on this journey, it has been so amazing and so fun. i want to say that i am tremendously grateful for my time working at amazon. i learned so much as a swe, about myself and about my career journey. and it also was the topic for all my videos for the past few years, so in many ways amazon launched my swe career and my youtube channel! i also want to say that everyone i met has been so kind and theres nothing i would change about this experience. i am just looking for a different fit and that's ok! i wanted to be honest about my experiences and see that a lot of people relate, and hopefully feel less alone.
if there is anything you take from this video its that life is too short. dont be afraid to take some risk in your life. to bet on yourself and chase your dreams. trust me, nothing bad has ever come from that. continue to have a growth mindset and realize that you are living in abundance and infinite possibilities of what your life can become.
this is not the end of journey ahah you are still stuck with me. theres is a lot of fun new videos i am working on in this next chapter of my life. i am lot faster at editing on instagram so go check me out @sarahli.mp3
xoxo Sarah
@RDFContent · October 23, 2026 at 11:23 am
You have to start somewhere…
If you would have continued you would have made it up the ladder.
Unfortunately youth today believe they should land in the best role off the bat, that is not reality.
@jlouie8835 · October 23, 2026 at 11:23 am
High-paying jobs are always stressful, but if the pay lets you retire early, it really just comes down to how well you manage that stress. There’s no such thing as a "dream job" if it can't pay the bills. I'm 68 and that's exactly what I did—focused on getting the highest return on my invested time, which allowed me to retire at 45. I passed that same mindset on to my son, who's a software engineer. After working in Big Tech and riding two IPOs, he's on track to retire even earlier than I did.
@cheyennenolan4340 · October 23, 2026 at 11:23 am
bro if all you were doing was really that Rudimentary why the hell didnt you just give that shit to Opus or astra, could have done your whole ass job for you. and you can build stuff after you get off? idk we just different people i guess.
@Manwhocares4u · October 23, 2026 at 11:23 am
The job market is so cooked. You are gonna regret this for sure. Unless you have parents to take care of you which your decision definitely reflects. Good luck being unemployed for a while 😂😂😂😂
@Betongaslongas · October 23, 2026 at 11:23 am
I’m a data engineer and was watching your videos about working at amazon as software engineer at the exact same time I was going through job switching also.
Totally agree with the angst and exhaustion of job searching and working at the same time. But finally switched to a better opportunity.
A job is a relationship, so keep in mind you might start to idealize big tech, and feel some regret at the beginning. It’s normal and worth it, you’ve got this!
@brownsense1 · October 23, 2026 at 11:23 am
I hope yall realize that when you put out videos like this… companies also take notice. So don't complain when you have corporations who are hesitant to hire females, when yall intentionally put out content like this.
@Hacking-Kitten · October 23, 2026 at 11:23 am
1. You are just a little piece in the big puzzle.. why would that be different for a new grad
2. Why would you think they just let you directly code on t1
3. Ofc newcomers will get boring tasks.. It takes time
Super annoying take.
For everyone else who feels the same: Build something fun in your free time. A job is a job. Or build your own company. Don't expect to ever work on something meaningful with that mindset.
@Agentic-Integrations · October 23, 2026 at 11:23 am
Is not only in Big Tech, is everywhere in IT
@6dark6alex6 · October 23, 2026 at 11:23 am
“I need to cling on to this job”, I worked at amazon AWS and saaaame, oh my god. I can’t describe it. Sort of just felt like I was failing myself by getting kicked out of a “top” jobs, invalidating my achievement of getting it in the first place
@Randoshi714 · October 23, 2026 at 11:23 am
My saying to all these Gen Z employees. The grass is not always greener on the other side.
@andrea_baldan · October 23, 2026 at 11:23 am
I'm really happy that you made the decision that makes you happy and, above all, that you had the chance to do so. Unfortunately, many people don’t have that opportunity, and while it’s easy to delude ourselves into thinking there are plenty of options out there, the reality is that the job market is very tough right now (especially in tech) and it’s not as easy to make a change as it was 5 or 10 years ago. That said, everyone should do what makes them happy; we only have one life, and it shouldn’t be wasted pursuing something that doesn’t make us happy.
@ansleylaceyy · October 23, 2026 at 11:23 am
Sidenote: where is your top from? So cute!!!
@nilfux · October 23, 2026 at 11:23 am
You mispronounced "Java" and for that reason I'm out.
@tentaclebandit · October 23, 2026 at 11:23 am
I'm not trying to throw, shade but everything you've experienced here tons of us have gone through before, and again. I just see a worker new to the world with big eyes of hopes and dreams. I worked for openai for 4 years (and you mgiht say wow, that must have been exciting being there early years) and I left last year because of…lets call it burn out and what your experiencing here is just part of the cycle of careers and change. If its not the job, its company and culture that also changes. So than you get a new job, process repeats, you either (quit) for whatever reason or get layed off. Than repeat process. Hence this is just the beginning of your work, code, quit, job hunt, work, code… churn…
The fact is, work is called work for a reason. Its work. Sure you might start a new project and with some indie devs but, once things take off and the company "stabilizes" (hahha) at best it becomes another maintain and debug pattern or repeat. I think what you still have to learn is that esp in tech industry the only real bright moments are the early moments in startups and early dev, but after that its mostly just maintaining code. Because one day you wont be able to quit because you need that paycheck for "responsibilities" you have yet to…experience (family, live, etc) that comes with aging.
Your journey is just starting, so whats my point? Don't let it get you down, as oyu get older you'll notice a lot of it just becomes routine to maintain life.
@asifinet79 · October 23, 2026 at 11:23 am
Software engineering jobs are same feeling traped
@Logan-zi4vx · October 23, 2026 at 11:23 am
“Naive young girl realizes the world doesn’t revolve around her”
@TheaAbregunda · October 23, 2026 at 11:23 am
You are so beautiful
@miroslavlalik954 · October 23, 2026 at 11:23 am
I rather went to Corporate, because in startup I did everything on my own and had like 10x more work.
@ioananadia4603 · October 23, 2026 at 11:23 am
I was an SDE at Amazon as well, and I left. When your managers are incompetent, you can work as much as you can… they will never appreciate your effort.
In my case, some of those managers had problems with the people who are not from the city where the office was located.
Even if the people were relocating to "office city", they always tought that those people will leave because they are not from that city (like there is no possibility for a person from that city to change the company instead)… and because of this those people didn't have the same opportunities like others (that's preferential treatment). Shame on the companies which have this type of managers 😀
@aicoalitionnetwork · October 23, 2026 at 11:23 am
1000s of developers are getting laid off. Good luck with the competition.
@happinessm.6629 · October 23, 2026 at 11:23 am
WOW this video really triggered a lot of folks in the comments. I honestly believe that those of us in industry, specifically swe at a big tech in the big 2026, will understand this video and that most or all the cacophony – the condescension from older folks, the disappointment from other countries, those from different industries – is from outsiders who only see six figures and think that's all there is to life. I dont blame anybody for choosing to strive for better and explore other avenues especially earlier in their career instead of being confined to one for the rest of the foreseeable future. congratulations to the creator for making this decision and I hope she can ignore all the noise coming from outside!!
@razjarenitesar · October 23, 2026 at 11:23 am
kad vidim ko se sve utripovao da je softver inzinjer nije ni cudo sto nam se AI desio
@00mrsmith · October 23, 2026 at 11:23 am
"I just quit my six-figure position at Amazon," sure, sounds like you were probably let go.