#badleadership

Leadership at AirMI is trash. Laying off the people who do the work and taking forever while doing so. Soon they will be blowing smoke about the “change curve” and “new ways of working.” Please get fu---d!
Also good luck to my fellows under Satan’s least favorite group of gals: AS and MC. I hope the misery ends soon.

Now that DF the champ of west coast software talent rehashing old ideas of low talent Michigan auto engineers out, I sincerely hope someone talk some sense into Ford executive thick heads.

Ford hasn’t shipped anything of significance since FNV2 (feel proud of that era). FNV4 would have been essentially delivered this year. Yet after billions wasted what did we get?
Silicon valley snake oil seller left with 200m and the company got a nothing burger.
Their SDV dream is as good as a dead cow in the canal, effectively years behind any competition.

Never seen waste more splendid than this. Unbelievable!!!

The way things are going right now, there are directors pushing people to adopt new tech, then telling them they can't use for what they were telling them to use it for, because it presents major security risks. Yet people already did.

These bad decisions will just compound the longer this goes on. We're sinking. Fast.

Some in management loved to play political games in the company. Like it was fun. Why? Business isn’t a game for those trying to earn a living.

Sure, revenue's way up. But the culture and morale are in the underworld--seriously it's depressing. Run like a prison daycare if that's even a thing. Senior leadership is awful and arrogantly tone deaf. I give it 2 quarters before it's 80% black screens and nothing but fresh college grads to try and pick up the pieces as they continue to crumble. The ship ain't crashing, it's being sunk by ignorance. AI, Saleschat, and ODW will NOT save MB on its current course.

First layoff I get it. Oops over-hired.

But second and third. No. You can't consistently make mistakes and be competent as a leader.

When stock underperformance stretches over years, restructuring no longer feels like a reset and we employees are paying for strategic failure twice...

Let me start with that all of the below are my opinions based on very close up observations of the people I'm commenting on and that I won't refer to anyone by name below the ET Level.

Cengage is only about optics at this point and I wouldn't be surprised if their main focus was maintaining the illusion as they work to go public and cash out.

First, Mr. Hansen has been and is a terrible leader who has largely rewarded terrible leaders and pushing out those that inspired.

He brought in one of the worst bullies I've ever seen in as Chief Product Officer and has continued this pattern of getting rid of true leaders with true vision that challenged the status quo over BS artists whose only talents are internal backstabbing, firing people, and posting articles that appear to be written by AI on LinkedIn as to appear as some profound thought leaders (see Mr. Wolbe and Mr. Persons).

How many reorgs and transformations do the same folks get before realizing the real problem is with leadership, not the operating model nor the people doing the jobs of 4 people for the salary of someone that is entry level.

How much money does Mr. Wolbe get to spend on consultants that do nothing but waste money while people that kept the company functioning are let go?

Instead of leveraging things like Cengage Unlimited to be disruptive, they just added this to yet another offering in their overly complex GTM model as none of these back stabbing leaders understand this business or, seemingly, any others.

The AI strategy is a joke with tools that are unlikely to be used and the arrogance and incompetence of "fake it until you make it" Mr. Persons running the show. The company is thus likely many years behind competitors here and AI is pure theater at Cengage.

For the competent, hard working folks at Cengage, the reward is layoffs or taking on the work of those laid off. Then training your likely, incompetent replacements.

For some reason, many of those that are known underperformers have slipped under the radar while top performers are moving onto competitors and the companies that will ultimately disrupt Cengage.

The focus seems to be to try and make the P&L look as good as possible for the IPO and then for those that can cash out to do so while leaving the barely functioning company and problem for the next regime (assuming there is a company left)

For those still there, everything you have worked on and given your blood, sweat, and tears to has already been destroyed.

You can stay and train the incompetent, ex-management consulting replacements or you can try to find another job now and leave those working to cash out holding the bag.

With the outsourcing of content and seemingly irresponsible use of AI in creating content for products, I'm not sure why anyone would use or trust a Cengage Product at this point.

The industry and customers are watching as those you fired are the trusted thought leaders in the future of Education and those you have leading are seen as irrelevant folks regurgitating AI-generated slop. I'm sure you were embarrassed at ASU.

With the Employee rises of 0% settled for another year its time for the Execs to take their big haul again. Internally DXC give the message that things are bad and they can't afford pay rises, on the Results calls they say all is going great and then go and take their rises. They always take raises at the beginning of the fiscal year, leaving employees at the end of the year. Del bean even goes as far as saying money has been budgeted for employees this year, then the money then evaporates i guess into the dodgy Execs accounts.

DXC Execs are one big lie, Will they get raises this year, whats your guess?

It seems to me the leadership is trying to have its cake and eat it. Stretch the remaining workforce as much as you can whilst expecting them to adopt AI, close multiple offices, remove any hope of career advancement unless you want to move 1000 miles, provide no clear strategy or plan and leave everyone on tenterhooks wondering if they’re the next one to be riffed. No empathy or support from senior leadership or HR. It’s a complete shambles and something major is going to go wrong very soon operationally. Verizon is not currently a coherent or fully functioning company. It’s crying out for some strong and clear leadership that adopt an understandable and logical communication plan

and among those upper/middle managers trying to claw their way up the ranks and leaving a trail of bodies. Too many a$$holes agreeing to whatever they think their higher ups want to hear. Of course, pointing to whatever is convenient to blame when their plan doesn't work.

My manager apologized to me for the poor bonus and raise and he indicated my compensation has nothing to do to do with my performance last year, which was outstanding. He said this is what he was given, would habe loved to give everyone that deserved it more, but his hands were tied.

Now GK and EL to us to talk to our manager??? Why do they want to throw the managers under the bus when they have no control over compensation that has a cap.

This morning, in a meeting including Michael Green and SVP Ian McCoy, the remaining Franklin Templeton employees servicing the last calls transitioning back to FT, were told that they would not be laid off, they were being transitioned over to Heritage Funds to service their calls due to their struggling to meet Service Level Agreements, beginning on 04/27/2026. This was the lay off date that they were given last week, after waiting months on the expectation of leaving with severance. Now, they will be trained on the new funds and take those calls for an indeterminate amount of time. In a later meeting with the managers for those funds, the FT employees were told that "if you show your value" they may get an offer to permanently join. Those not greeting this news with abject joy were told to be glad that they have a job. Those who are unaware of this site were shocked, those reading, not so much. This is the FIS playbook in which the C suite can report the savings on the severance and get their big bonuses for such innovative solutions.

It's in the air. You see it in how people walk, how they talk, how they avoid eye contact with certain managers. Everyone is afraid. Afraid of being next. Afraid of speaking up. Afraid of a bad review that could lead to a PIP that could lead to being walked out. That's the culture at Exxon.

That's the whole story.

This place is garbage. The employees are mediocre at best. I don't respect a single person I've worked with here. If you want no growth and endless politics for a decade, this is your spot.

I can say with full confidence these have been the worst three years of my career.

Looking at this sorry soap opera called Expand one wonders.

Why filling the spaces left by a bunch of incompetent losers that got nothing to show for after 2 years of walking, meeting and sipping like mindless drones?

Why not buying a tent and make this sad show a travelling circus going round and around PA, OK and TX?

Give the investors something to laugh about instead of a truckload of excuses.

I've been at this company for ages, and I've worked with all kinds of different teams. Even besides the top C-suite folks, there are some total deadweight employees that really should get fired or transferred to another department — especially the ones that are in charge of all our core stuff. I already sent a long email to a handful of C-level execs and the new CEO calling out these bad apples. These je-ks are holding us back from building really good products.

I've been at FIS for years. Never once got a bad review. Never been put on a PIP. I showed up every day, did my job, kept my head down. Then they called me into a room without any prior warning and handed me a layoff notice. No explanation beyond the usual corporate language. I'm over fifty. I've given this place a big chunk of my life. And they cut me like I was nothing. Perfect reviews didn't protect me. Being a good employee didn't protect me. Nothing protected me.

Leadership is something that employees aspire to become one day. Our leaders are nothing but that. These are people who are so called HiPos stepped over others, stayed not more than two years, did nothing of value to the corporation but perception and favoritism moved them up and is reflected in poor leadership and zero vision that we see today. They travel for no reason, present mundane powerpoint slides just to show that they are busy to their division. Where will it end? These are the people that board trusted to lead in to the future?

Let me describe how this place works. First pillar, punishment. Make a small error and they'll remind you for months. Second pillar, fear. Nobody feels safe. Everyone's waiting for the other shoe to drop. Third pillar, favoritism. Certain people can do no wrong. They get the promotions, the good projects, the protection. Everyone else gets the scraps. That's the culture. That's how they run things. And it's not just unpleasant, but also abusive. It wears you down until you don't even remember what normal feels like.

Keep punishing people. That'll definitely make them happier. Works every time.

My group has been on the do more with less treadmill for two quarters. And it's not slowing down, it's speeding up. I've done a huge amount of work, delivered results, kept things running. But leadership doesn't support us. They never have. You can't treat people like rows in a spreadsheet and expect them to stay. We lose one more person, and I and a few others are also gone. This company deserves the bad leadership it has.

They finalized my layoff on my birthday. Some gift. That tells you exactly how much they value people.

New mandate from my leader, no jeans, no hats, no tshirts, and no shorts (until after a certain date).

I wasn't aware we were going to be seeing customers in the office. Oh wait we aren't. It would be different if our building wasn't falling g apart, full of mold, constantly under construction, or the air/heat not working. Let's also not forget our desks are absolute garbage and falling apart. Maybe they should give their employees working equipment and a decent setup if they expect them to look like they are ready for a board meeting, let's not even talk about the massive pay cut. They expect us to go buy new wardrobes on 40k salary when people are struggling to fund our VPs lakehouse???

Wake the fu-k up Dell leadership and stop treating your people like garbage. You at least used to PRETEND that your employees were important, OR how about this, throw us all a nice dinner since you are so intent on constantly FU--ING us.

Absolutely one of the worst companies to work for in America. Tons of losers, horrible Leadership, people that can’t work anywhere else! Trash stock too! And then you got the Siffords!

Our management seems to think there is an infinite talent pool and they can just keep replacing everyone with equal or better quality workers at a moment’s notice. Someone should give them a clue.

So last July I was in SIU and got forced, with a two day notice, to move to Fire Claims. It took me 15 years to get to SIU, enjoyed my job and got good level 3 & 4 ratings. I do not have any fire claims experience. I absolutely loathe Fire claims and miserable every day. This place is a total sh-t hole! So our SM was in our huddle this week and basically said we are overstaffed in certain areas in Fire claims and we should expect some changes coming soon. Going to need less people...also there will be no new hiring in 2026! I've only been out of training now for 8 months and basically what they are trying to do is fire anyone and everyone due to overstaffing. This really is a complete and total evil clueless company! Stay away and go find something else to do!

It’s convenient to blame engineers at every level, but management seems to operate in a different accountability universe—one where failure has no real consequences.
At the LL6, LL5 level and above, you see the same pattern of weak, indecisive leadership repeating the same mistakes quarter after quarter. There’s little ownership, no urgency to correct course, and no visible standard for performance. Yet the paychecks keep coming, funding comfortable lifestyles that appear completely detached from the results they deliver.
What’s worse is the revolving door. Ineffective managers get swapped out, only to be replaced by equally ineffective ones. Nothing improves because the system itself tolerates—and even rewards—mediocrity. It’s not just an individual failure; it’s structural.
At that point, calling it a product-driven organization feels dishonest. It looks far more like a closed circle protecting itself—an insular social club that talks strategy but consistently fails to execute anything of real substance.

Oh, we finally got ourselves a middle manager, after over a year of blissful independence, purely so someone could tick the “yes, we have one” box. Never mind that our team handles complex fintech systems with intricate backends and high-risk frontends; our new overseer couldn’t tell you what tech stack we use, how we build, or how anything actually gets shipped.

Instead, we get endless lectures about “empathy” and “psychological safety,” followed by mandatory meetings that accomplish nothing beyond recycling the same tired talking points, while our actual work quietly piles up. Real contributions? Nowhere to be found.
What makes it even more impressive is that about ten years ago, they were in food service, and somehow parlayed a string of small-company roles and a questionable degree into a banking position they seem wildly unqualified for. It’s less “career growth” and more “failing upward with confidence.”

My coworkers have already figured out how to play along and stroke the ego when needed. I just don’t have it in me. And to top it off, the complete lack of effort in their presentation only adds to the whole secondhand embarrassment of being professionally associated with them.

Conway management threatening employees with handling if the don't get ridiculous yard repair number. Being told to replace parts unnecessarily just to hit the numbers. Any other locations pushing this? AAR/FRA?

I have never seen a more chaotic and poorly managed business in my long career. Letting go of some of your best and hardest working people never ends well. If the Board and CEO were trying to streamline the company, they failed miserably.

My advice: Bring back the good, hard-working people who were let go and fire the CEO.

The year Chevron made the most money and the employees made nothing more for their work. Chevron on track for another record year and another middle finger to the hard workers who decided to stay. 100+ people that I know are ready to walk. Take care of your people or you will find out we can fu-k you harder.

Even though I left ford in July 2022, I still want to post this. I never told anyone this story.

Doug field once told me and my team “We move as a snail and bring no innovation” though consistently our team was top performing team.

Because of constant badgering my manager quit then my supervisor and then my entire team along with me.

We all went to different companies and many are in leadership positions at suppliers and OEMs now.

When my Manager & team was leaving he said “Good Riddance” despite the team had filed 52 patents in past three years.

He constantly undermined “Ford way” and tried to rope us in with a mentality of “Tesla” or “Apple” or “whatever”.

After four years he was shown the door when he achieved nothing but lost $20B in EV “innovation”. Because of him good ford Engineers left or were forced out.

If any Ford management is reading, I want to tell you that you should consider what you lost and earned by bringing someone who never valued you or your business but in the process you let loyal and innovative people go.

I have no regrets leaving the company but I felt bad for many folks who I were left to take orders from someone who did not value them.

2021: Collected three months pay
2022: Collected 12 months pay
2023: Collected 12 months pay
2024: Collected 12 months pay
2025: Collected 12 months pay
2026: Collected five months pay, and got fired with a press release saying he was leaving on his own volition.

He’s pretty darn proud of his accomplishments.

In my time with the firm, there’s been a real shift in leadership in my organization.

The current group of MDs doesn’t have the same tenure or approach, and the environment shows it. The previous group wasn’t perfect, but there was a baseline level of professionalism and respect.

With this leadership team, a lot is visible about how they operate, and it’s not what you’d expect from people in those roles. It’s hard to take them seriously or have much respect for them, whether they realize it or care.

The current team of MDs has no accountability for unacceptable behavior, yet they decide everyone else’s future while not being held to the same standard.

Everyone sees it, but posts like this may be the only form of accountability for those at the top

But at least we have ‘agentic‘ nonsense and a falling stock.

That call could have gone worse. No idea how.

Every time the employee experience worsens, I employ another tactic to lower productive output and/or squander corporate resources to bring things back in line.

And no pride in work where the lion's share of the rewards go to the already bloated senior "leaders". To the contrary, pride in racking up those direct deposits in exchange for next‐to‐nothing.

Luckily, Ford's incompetence in performance management is matched only by their level of integrity so I'll be here doing my thing for a long while. So sorry if you don't like it.

Who else was “saved” but is updating their resume and looking. This place is a joke. How soon until the next round of layoffs?