#advice

Don't fall for that VIP trip to wherever they want to send you ...I almost did🧐

There are two types of leaders. The confident ones hire the best minds around them, people who'll challenge them and give honest advice. The insecure ones hire yes-men. The second kind is running this company straight into the ground, and they're getting rich doing it.

Hard work and skill won't get you ahead. Flatter your boss and trash-talk the competition. That's the winning combination.

Don't expect the company to care. It never will.

Please start preparing yourselves. It will not be small and it will not be pretty. Plus, with the job market being what it is, you need to start looking sooner rather than later to have any chance of landing something. Just a few words of advice from an old-timer who's been through an acquisition or two and knows how it goes.

I haven't discussed this with my manager yet so would be grateful for input or info anyone has on policy. Here's my situation:

• I work East Coast hours from West Coast (CA)
• I have worked 6am (and sometimes 5am) to 8am from home, then train into the office (I don't own a car...takes about 40 minutes each way).
• I do not work with anyone else in my office...I spend my day on Teams meetings or doing my work.
• I go home at 2pm or 3pm, depending when I started in the morning.

Am I now supposed to haul my bu†† downtown at 4:15am to get my 8 hours in the office? The trains don't even run then! I'm not buying a car just to satisfy this. Honestly, the absurdity of all this is what bothers me the most.

Right now, I'm planning to my boss that he's going to lose access to my work and contacting me until 9am Pacific time. Many of my team and project-related calls fall before that time, so they can either allow me to continue working the way I do or lose my participation in various routines, ability to answer questions and fix stuff...I'm stumped.

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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.

Do we get the 401(k) match if we quit?

Thoughts? They’re in the transition, why not? Shift a bit of sakes sales.
Less risk and guaranteed a cut for Senior Leadership.

Funny how when I was giving my supervisor advice on crypto and trading strategies we were the best of friends the second money stopped coming in my audits picked up and that “friendship” faded and I was switched off the current team

I am seasoned advisor I wasted my time with their VIP event. Feed you a cheap meal give you a one day sales pitch then join us and we will FEE you for everything thing you sell ! NO THANKS you ever heard no such thing as a free lunch. Do your home work first!

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.

why isn't there a 20 minute AI summary? Isn't that what y-all are supposed to be donig now?

They hire smart people, put them in roles they're not qualified for, and wonder why nothing works. That's PepsiCo for you.

What is the purpose of their job? Track token usage and scold us if we use too much or not enough?

Any convenience reps here? Accepted a convenience sales rep role and would love to hear from someone with direct experience what I’m getting myself into

As a CFP is it my fiduciary obligation to recommend clients pay .65 vs 1.35? Nice to know exactly what full service advice costs the GPs.

Any housekeeping tips I should keep in mind as I plan to put in my 2 weeks?

Tips to ensure a smooth vacation payout or pension payout? Or rolling over my 401k? Things of that nature. Would be much appreciated. Thanks!

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.

Any suggestions out there? Let’s use this thread

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

For a new joiner, would y'all leave your 401k with the previous employer or rollover to Fiserv's?

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.

Should I take a role in Uncon? I hear ranking is brutal there. Any tips to survive / thrive?

Any other advice besides work hard and build a network to advance in this Company?

You don't own Wells Fargo. You don't run it. Why are you letting it stress you out?

Hypothetically if we started posting elsewhere, what would be the top 3 other companies you would want to work for? Asking for a friend.

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

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.

Everyone should review and be familiar with because your time will come.

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.

Is it smart to accept it?

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.

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.

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?

Don't wait until you're desperate to start networking. Start while you still have a job.

Complain and stay miserable. Grind and get nothing. Build skills and leave. Choose wisely.

You can assume that whatever they are telling you now will be used against you in three months.

Another anxious week to push through knowing the managers and uppers are not going to stand up for us and for what is right! The 9/4 folks are so lucky!
Take your well deserved severance and run!
I feel like we are living in a big nightmare.
Good luck to everyone!