#burnout

I submitted my internal survey feedback, and I did not hold back about how broken matrix teams really are. I want my leader to be someone I am in the trenches with every day. Instead, I get loaned out to separate teams while my formal manager sits on the sidelines, sending endless check-in messages asking what I am working on, whether things are moving forward, what my accomplishments were last week, or what my upcoming goals are.

Having spent my last two roles trapped in matrix management, neither of my leaders ever truly knew what I did/do on a day-to-day basis. When your direct manager has zero visibility into your routine output, your evaluation turns into a game of telephone rather than an accurate reflection of your work. It is long overdue to return to reporting lines where employees actually answer to the people they work alongside.

To make matters worse, these managers lack any actual authority to solve the real operational problems coming at us. I bring up persistent issues and concerns, complete with fully formed solutions and ways to resolve them, and absolutely nothing changes. Nothing happens. Our supposed leaders do not have the power or backbone to address friction with cross-functional partners, especially when General Partners are involved. The culture treats GPs like corporate royalty, expecting everyone to bow down and cater to them at all costs while real workflow issues get swept under the rug.
Beyond the constant administrative check-ins and powerlessness, matrix structures create major operational headaches. Reporting to multiple leaders leaves employees to navigate conflicting demands and split focus. Accountability completely dissolves when leadership is scattered across dotted lines, meaning no single person owns the final results and finger-pointing takes over when issues arise. Performance metrics also get misaligned, forcing workers to satisfy two completely different sets of expectations. Half the workweek ends up consumed by status updates to keep disengaged managers informed instead of driving actual results.

Worst of all, career growth hits a wall because a leader who does not see your daily contributions cannot effectively advocate for your promotions or raises. If you have ever spent nearly an hour explaining your actual job to the person who writes your yearly performance review, you know exactly how frustrating this structural setup is.

Is anyone else exhausted by matrix management, or has anyone actually seen a this sh---y company execute this structure well in a department burning people out?

Not only are they laying people off so we have to pick up the slack of having less teammates but now they are adding all these new initiatives on top of it. Are they trying to burn us out? Because a lot of my coworkers feel the same but everyone is too afraid for their jobs sake and just yes manning their managers. It’s kind of ridiculous.

uk office is toxic
clueless managers
80% of sales team on have had burn out in last year

I'm doing three times the amount of work than I did when I first joined because we lost so many people, and I'm about ready to break. They keep adding things and don't give a damn whether I have the time to do it, not to mention energy. If I could, I'd leave today.

The workload, uncertainty, and constant pressure pushed my stress far beyond what I could manage. I ended up on short term disability after experiencing blood pressure over 180, chest pain, and other physical symptoms. Please, be kind to yourselves and don't allow the same thing to happen to you. Pace yourselves. You don't need to work 60+ hour weeks, no matter what your manager says. You don't need to lose your weekends and holidays to work. They just want us to think that.

Now that I’ve been here over a decade, I can see why the old timers before would get livid that Fidelity invests so much in kids right out of college.

At the time, I thought the older people were jealous but now I understand fidelity gives the kids more money because they’re the only ones d-mb enough to work for free.

When they move into the “I’ve been here a decade”, they’re all also confused as to what happened, then they burn out.

That’s not favoritism like I thought it was, it’s someone who needs to go back to school and stop playing “leader”. Fidelity cannot stay a top company when fundamentally we cannot understand the difference between what the words leader and manager mean.

To save the company from imploding, fix the management pandemic panic.

Work has started affecting how I feel about everything outside the office. I need something to change before the stress follows me into every part of my life. Work should be about providing for me and my family, not about turning me into somebody they might want to walk away from.

Some people talk about sixty hour weeks as if they're proving how committed they are. I don't see it that way. If you're spending that much time working, you're giving up a huge part of your life for the job that will most likely reward you with even more work and nothing else. That's not a lifestyle I envy.

...just this...

It has been two weeks since many members of my team have been involuntarily / voluntarily separated. I've picked up so much work and responsibilities. Any suggestions for what I should do? I'm feeling completely burnt out. I'm looking at other organizations to apply to because I just don't feel appreciated, or even that our superiors are aware of the impact these changes have on me and our team.

It seems as if the whole unplanned Mission Simplify (referencing Town Hall presentation) did not plan for the fact that these people are being let go right before AEP, leaving no one else to fill in for them but the people still left behind during the busiest season for the company.

At least if my people leader presented me with a plan - I would feel a bit better. But there is no discussion of increase in team resources or pay.

I'm not quite sure how much longer I can go on like this.

Message from management is that we give RSUs to keep high performers and close to Zero base pay increments. During layoffs we they let go of certain people because they had a large RSUs due. So the logic appears to be make people slave with the promise of a reward and then cut them close to it. Oracle will sc--w you given a chance, make sure you view and treat them with the same manner. Worst severance in the industry - so always remember this and don't work too hard for Oracle, prioritize your interest first just like Oracle does. Seen multiple of my colleagues work crazy hours and then get like this. Out manager could not save them. Now it's 60 days for some of them to find a job or get out of the country. Others are burnt out and I don't think they are in a good space to do interviews. What does the 28 million dollar devils spawn tell us in the all hands - it is a good time to be at Oracle.

We lost half the team months ago and somehow the amount of work didn't change. The people left behind are just expected to cover everything now.

Be careful about constantly taking on responsibilities that aren't part of your job. Once everyone gets used to you doing them, they will stop seeing them as extra and you'll be sc--wed. I'm talking from experience.

Thumbs up if you're feeling confident / satisfied or just positive about your current job/RnRs / work-life balance

Thumbs down if you're worried about losing your job/ reorg / politics / burnout / or just feeling unmotivated.

Do you all remember what it was like 10 years ago? We had the staff that we needed to get our jobs done. People were friendly and didn’t cause drama for the sake of it, and we didn’t hire toxic people. There is this culture now of toxicity where people will lie on each other in hopes of getting the next promotion. That promotion does not exist, however, because AI has replaced that rung in the ladder.

Why is this all so toxic???? I’m to the point where I come in and just do my job and go home and I talk to the minimum amount of people possible. I have never been more burnt out and depressed in my life.

I hate what Teradata has become, expecting us to work 12-14 hour days to meet unrealistic expectations.. we can’t sleep, we can’t eat, we can’t spend time with our families. There is no work-life balance here

At first, people still try to make things work even when the environment is bad, but eventually the constant stress starts taking something out of them. They stop bringing ideas and stop putting in extra effort because they've learned it doesn't make a difference. Before long, getting through the workday becomes the only goal. And that's where we're at now.

Give someone impossible workloads, constant criticism, and no sense of security. Keep it going long enough and even a happy person will start dreading work and consider quitting.

A lot of experienced people have either left or been pushed out, and everyone remaining is being asked to pick up more work. The pay doesn't feel like it reflects how much is being demanded from us. Customers are noticing the problems, which only adds more pressure internally. It's a mess all around.

For anyone who's completely burned out, here's something I've learned. You can push back on some of the nonsense and the sky doesn't immediately fall. A lot of managers aren't going to fire someone who is still carrying a big part of the workload. If you're already expecting cuts, there isn't much reason to destroy yourself trying to please everyone.

My biggest regret is how long I stayed somewhere that made me feel like I was constantly doing something wrong. My new job pays better and I have actual freedom to do my work without someone picking apart my every expression or move. The constant intimidation is gone, and I didn't realize how much it was affecting me until I got away from it. Sometimes leaving really is the answer.

I've seen managers slowly chip away at someone's confidence until that person starts believing they can't do better anywhere else. They make the job feel like some privilege you should be grateful for, even when the conditions are terrible. Eventually you're so exhausted and beaten down that you stop looking for something better. That's what makes this kind of management so nasty.

The people at the top seem to get away with almost anything while toxic behavior is allowed to continue. You can actually see the environment changing people who used to care, as they become bitter and completely checked out. That's the part that scares me because once that attitude spreads, it's really hard to turn things around.

That's what it feels like lately. Just pile on more and more work =until we break and walk out.

I was genuinely happy to work here when I started, and now I can't wait to get away from it. The constant pressure and threats have completely worn me down.

It's pretty obvious that a small group of people here are carrying most of the workload. Those of us who're experienced and know how everything works, but we're also completely exhausted. A lot of us stay because the job market is the way it is, but that won't last forever, and then GP better be ready for an exodus.

I'm stressed, exhausted, and so fed up with everything right now. I want to leave, but I have bills and responsibilities that don't give me that option.

They can't keep new hires. Employees are retiring and quitting. Everyone hates it. Not enough employees to do the work. Everyone is tied to their desk with constant threats on idle time. Constant changes being implemented making it impossible to keep up. Your expected to take all your calls and still get your work done which is impossible with the amount of calls coming in. The micromanaging is tremendous. Its complete missery. Instead of firing those that need it, they make their good employees miserable. The good employees are constantly having to do others work. The burnout is real. I'm planning to Ieave as soon as I can.

I don't know exactly when things changed, but IBM feels nothing like it used to. People are exhausted, nobody has much enthusiasm anymore, nobody seems interested in anything, and the old sense that everyone was in it together is gone. We used to actually enjoy seeing each other and working together. Now everyone's just trying to get through the day. I miss the old IBM.

I've finally realized that doing a good job doesn't protect you here at all. The worst part isn't even offshore teams, it's the local managers and coworkers who dump their mess on everyone else and somehow never get held responsible. They expect everyone underneath them to work themselves into the ground while they get to look good and collect their bonuses. I'm just tired of playing that game.

i really dont have anything to report but i can tell you that the amount of stress my team is going thru is tremendous.

i've never seen anything like this and i've been around 10+ years. i think the uncertainty is the biggest culprit here and on top of this everyone wants things to be done yesterday and we've lost people and the amount of work went up.

i dont think this can be sustained.

Does anyone else feel like they are PAST severe burnout right now?

Just the beginning of Groundhog Day for us all?! This is the daily grind personified.
I just think after 6 years of ft wfh and then hybrid this is going to be a really difficult slope to scale after a couple of months with no let us except an errant holiday or vacation day?
What were they thinking?!!
I’m exhausted just thinking about how tedious this gets and how arduous it is after a long day.
It doesn’t help and it’s not political because gas dollar for dollar was higher under Carter obamma and even joe much higher but it’s painful at the pump. The average on today’s dollar would be between $5-6 on average.

I don't care about the comapmy
I don't care about kpi's
I don't care about Q2 Q4 goals
I don't care about projects
I don't care about putting in any effort
I've truely given up and skating by

This company has su-ked out my humanity & left me underpaid & overworked
When all you get is a 'thank you'
All I can say is fu-k you

My responsibilities have tripled since then, my entire team is anxious, morale is at its lowest, and leadership hasn't addressed the burnout. Instead of gratitude, I feel overwhelmed and resentful. Layoffs are sometimes just as bad for those who are "lucky" to stay.

At this point, we’re basically a skeleton crew trying to keep everything moving while picking up the work left behind by the people who left.

The interesting thing is, the workload doesn’t leave when the people do. It just gets redistributed to the ones who are still here. One person takes on a little more, then a little more, and before you know it, everyone is doing two or three jobs just to keep things from falling apart.

And of course, there always seems to be plenty of movement at the top too. New responsibilities, new things to oversee, new priorities… while the people on the ground quietly keep absorbing the actual work.

If you stayed, just remember to protect your time, your energy, and your sanity. Loyalty is great, but it shouldn’t come at the expense of your well-being.

At the end of the day, I guess we’ll see how this new structure works out for everyone.

Even if you work your rear end off here it goes unnoticed. They will lay you off after many hard years. I missed many weddings, births, and funerals working here. Wish I could get those years back.

Right now I am so drained that even when I am off, I have nothing left for myself. Yes, my pay and benefits are better but at what cost? Not to mention, now I have a higher chance of being laid off instead of it being the other way around. This place is truly a joke.

I used to enjoy work. Now every day is an exercise in willpower to get out of bed and show up.

After repeated layoffs, burnout, and a media leadership culture that seems to treat people as disposable, dropping a 20+ year media agency partner without a pitch feels completely on brand. It’s the same management philosophy applied at scale: destroy institutional knowledge, call it transformation, and assume a shiny new operating model will compensate for the human damage left behind. Then send an internal email written by AI, announcing the new media partner - an email so cringe that reads like ChatGPT huffed a whiteboard full of “synergy” and “growth driver” and vomited out a LinkedIn thought-leadership post wearing a suit