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Employment attorney

For anyone looking for an excellent employment attorney - https://www.kdh-law.com/
Anne Schiavone represented me against another company and yes, we won! Her firm practices on STL although they are located in KC. I highly recommend. I have been in touch with her recently and she appreciates the referral!


Great advice for ANY company

  1. Nix big meetings

Excessive meetings are the blight of big companies and almost always get worse over time. Please get rid of all large meetings, unless you’re certain they are providing value to the whole audience, in which case keep them very short.

  1. Ditch frequent meetings too

Get rid of frequent meetings, unless you are dealing with an extremely urgent matter. Meeting frequency should drop rapidly once the urgent matter is resolved.

Leave a meeting if you’re not contributing

Walk out of a meeting or drop off a call as soon as it is obvious you aren’t adding value. It is not rude to leave, it is rude to make someone stay and waste their time.

  1. Drop jargon

Don’t use acronyms or nonsense words for objects, software or processes. In general, anything that requires an explanation inhibits communication. We don’t want people to have to memorize a glossary just to function.

  1. Communicate directly, irrespective of hierarchy

Communication should travel via the shortest path necessary to get the job done, not through the ‘chain of command’. Any manager who attempts to enforce chain of command communication will soon find themselves working elsewhere.

A major source of issues is poor communication between departments. The way to solve this is allow free flow of information between all levels. If, in order to get something done between depts, an individual contributor has to talk to their manager, who talks to a director, who talks to a VP, who talks to another VP, who talks to a director, who talks to a manager, who talks to someone doing the actual work, then super d-mb things will happen. It must be ok for people to talk directly and just make the right thing happen.

  1. Follow logic, not rules

In general, always pick common sense as your guide. If following a ‘company rule’ is obviously ridiculous in a particular situation, such that it would make for a great Dilbert cartoon, then the rule should change.


You can sue your manager or supervisor personally!

I’m just gonna put this right here. Nike HR and Legal are there to protect the company. You can file a complaint through the EEOC and BOLI but completely separate you can sue your manager. Nike wants you to give up and give in. They want you to believe that what they are doing is ok. Keep solid documentation and take care of yourself! You are not defined by the swoosh or the toxic leadership.

Under ORS 659A, individual supervisors and managers can be held personally liable for discrimination, retaliation, or creating/allowing a hostile work environment — not just the company.


H1 Pro TAMPA CITI

If you are not in h1b run out of Citi. You will not be promoted, you will not have any hike whatsoever. If you are from another company - chances are slim to zero that your manager will even care.
How great it is to see the company functioning exactly opposite to the current governments principles. It’s immaculate to see this organization run like this forever.


Proactive steps to take now

Looking to strike a more positive note on what is in our control....

  1. Update accounts to you personal email
  • Health
  • Fidelity
  1. Get all documents you need from the system
  • Paystubs, end of year tax forms
  • Vacation balance screenshots
  • Employee Performance Reviews
  • Any other personal documentation like 1-1 notes
  1. Get prepared financially
  • Start cutting expenses (if not already doing so)
  • Have cash available for expenses - would say as much as 6 months - 1 year - market is terrible
  1. Get prepared for what is next
  • Get resume ready, start applying NOW
  • Get your LinkedIn ready
  • Get list of contacts from your coworkers who can be references, maybe able to get you referrals - start networking - that is the way most folks get a job

And most importantly take care of yourself

  1. You are important, you matter to your loved ones - to the company you are a row in the employee database to delete at will
  2. This is not your fault, the company has made a bet on AI infrastructure and there is nothing you can/could have done to avoid this
  3. Your performance is NOT a factor - superstars with Exceeds/Outstanding have already been let go
  4. Everything is temporary and a phase, tomorrow will be better - keep up your spirits

If you have any other positive suggestions please do add them to help everyone through this difficult phase


Any financial advice... layoff/leaving due to burnout

I am writing this just wondering if anyone with more experience than me would be willing to share any tips on how much a person needs to have saved in case of layoff or having to leave due to the stress and all that. There's so much info out there.... I've heard 1-3 months of bills, and then I've heard 3-6 months. Everything is so confusing and I don't really have anyone around who really understands what we are going through. Any advice would be helpful. Thank you in advance.


Ackman lost faith in Hertz

This should tell you everything you need to know. One of the well known investors threw in the towel. Sold all his shares. This company is trash. If you have stock-you should follow suit. Rather than taking a further loss-sell!

https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/hertz-shares-fall-ackman-pershing-182219197.html


Surplus vs FMLA/LoA

Serious responses only please

All, my family in a different state (non hub/a 3h flight away from closest hub) needs my help. I’ll need to be there for regular medical appointments and to help them at home. I’m retirement eligible but way too young to retire. I have young kids & spouse who doesn’t work but supports the home/kids/their activities. I think I can get another job & I’m somewhat prepared. But now when I’m actually in this situation & having to decide if I should quit to support my family, it seems daunting. They’ll need my help for about 4-5 months. I could start looking for work after that. I have just enough buffer to last that time.

Should I take FMLA? Unpaid LoA? Does ageism exist i.e. would it better to try to stay?

If asking for be on surplus, is it too late for the rumored Sept date? Shd I ask for Dec?
To make matters worse, my immediate supervisor was surplussed this last round. They’re still trying to find a spot for me & our team. Currently reporting to a “leader” who is at best unhelpful & at worst goes out of his way to kick people when they’re down, publicly. Should I go to the VP (who doesn’t know me at all) to ask to be surplused? My temp supervisor will highlight the worst option instead of being sympathetic or helpful. Any advice greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time.


Need Advice

I have made it through the VSP and involuntary separations. During the couple months of uncertainty I looked for another job. It’s not remote and would be working in a more stressful environment but one I’m used to as it’s what I did before. It is a little extra money about 12-20k more a year.
I was so stressed about potentially being laid off I went through with the interview process for the other job and was given an offer.
Now that I found out I’m safe from this I don’t know if I should take it. Part of me is saying yes take the offer because the layoffs could happen again soon. I guess just wondering what you all would do? I do love working from home though.


Don't be too helpful

When I started here, I was always willing to jump in and help when someone needed coverage. I figured taking on extra work would show that I was dependable and committed. Instead, those temporary tasks slowly became part of my regular workload, with nothing taken off my plate. I've definitely stopped volunteering as much.


What would you tell a family member thinkng about joining cisco???

Need some advice from other folks on the board... my brother in law really wants to join cisco ... he thinks it would be a great move now. he has 10 years of experience as a developer (multiple stacks) in two F500 companies... He's been pushing me to help set him up with an interview...

problem is i'm prety jaded at this point. after so many layoffs, long hours, constant reorganizations... and general dysfunction, i don't exactly have a glowing view of the place anymore. i also don't want to dump all my frustration on him or make it sound like i'm trying to ki-l an opportunity he's excited about.

if someone you were close to wanted to join cisco right now, what would you tell them? ??? what are the biggest things you'd make sure they understood before interviewing or accepting an offer? trying to give him a fair picture without turning it into my personal rant.


What would make things better for you?

Honest question. I see so much dissatisfaction here. Im one of the dissatisfied too. I know execs come here to read what we really have to say. Maybe we can take a sec to anonymously tell them what would help and see if they actually care to listen and do something. So what would improve your experience at FIS?


Accept. Address. Exit.

I want to share something pretty simple that I think applies to all of us when we run into problems at work.

When something is frustrating you, there are really three productive choices: accept it, address it, or exit.

-> Accept it.
Not every problem is going to be fixed, and not every decision is going to go the way we want.

-> Address it.
If something genuinely needs to change, then bring it forward . AND come ready to help solve it.

-> Exit.
And sometimes, the reality is that the job, the environment, or the way the company operates just isn’t right for someone anymore.\


Getting extra help on overloaded tasks

I remember someone here posted how they were overwhelmed and got a few back ups to help with their tasks and it was great.

Im overwhelmed, voiced opinion to manager and now I’m in a position to get help from other employees (off shore) that I will train…and I’m wondering if training them on this would be me pretty much me training them to take over my job… sadly

Has anyone had stories like this? Did it work out for you?


Trust the process

If you are 1 to 5 years at Chevron and trying to navigate your career path, it might seem foggy but there is a method to the madness. You have not fully built your network yet while everything seems to be changing fast. My advice is collaborate more than you compete. You will be surprised how many employees with 10+ years of experience will be willing to mentor and even lend you their connections if you run into a rough patch. Compete against yourself to be better, not against your co-worker. Take advantage of all the training opportunities Chevron provides. All of that is well within your control, everything else is mostly noise. Trust the process.


For those laid off: caution

100% be cautious of this.. You’ll read a lot of people say something like “oh I got a job during those 60 days and kept the severance”. I did this. Lost my severance. Then got laid off two months later at my new job. 8 months later im back here. In a role 3 levels lower than when I left.

Remember those 60 days you’re still employed. If you accept another role. You aren’t laid off. You’ve now quit.

It’s a notice of potential employment loss due to layoff. If you accept another role during that time you quit your job and took a new job. These companies have automated systems that notify each other. Especially with workday.

Very much do start your job hunt immediately. It’s a long drawn out process with multiple rounds of interviews.

Just don’t accept the role until day 61.

I beg of you - listen to my advice.