#cost

Healthcare costs continue to rise. Will we see big increases in employee contributions?

Remember that employee survey a year or two ago about benefits? I wonder what happened with those results.

Has anyone compared their healthcare costs? I just looked and HSA went from roughly 2k/yr to 9k. Am I seeing straight? I did get an email about a pay tier change… but that’s not worth a 7k increase. Anyone?

They wouldn't be forcing us to drive to an office while gas prices are out of control.
The cost of commuting is such an unnecessary burden when we were highly effective as fully remote employees for 5 years!
Love doing more work for less money!

33 Directors + 3 VPs + 2 SVPs = A tone-deaf waste of time and money.

The math is hard to ignore - between flights, lodging, meals, and lost working hours, this easily represents close to a half-million dollar investment. For that expense, I'd expect a concrete deliverable: a roadmap, reorg decision, or a prioritized set of initiatives with owners and dates. As far as I can tell, none of that has materialized - nor will it. No memo, no readout, no change in direction.

This seems like a good moment to ask a harder question: why does IT currently support a director population this large relative to its actual scope of delivery? A retreat of this size implies a leadership bench that, on paper, should be shaping strategy, but the day-to-day experience for most of the org is that priorities shift reactively, tickets sit unworked, and nobody below the director layer can point to what these roles are actually accountable for.

If 39 directors and above can be pulled out of the building for a week with no discernible business impact, it's evidence the roles themselves may be over-provisioned.

Seriously considering telling Fido that I literally CANNOT absorb the extra financial cost of commuting to work every day when gas is projected to hit $6/gal. Is anyone else concerned about this? Sure, it’s fine if you live within a few miles but my commute is over an hour combined. How is this okay with Abby and why is no one doing anything about it?

Does anyone know how much this transformation has cost the company? And how many Americans lost their jobs to other countries?

Two concerns currently:

1. AI is super concerning after some of the news this week that it could eliminate the entire human race in 10 years.. don’t understand how the company can force it on us and constantly question how we are using it. Not comfortable with it in any aspect of my life.

2. Their rationing oil in the US at this point. The cost of an oil change is about to skyrocket. We won’t be able to afford to maintain our vehicles. Many top performers don’t live in a city where public transportation is an option when it gets to that point. Thank God, I only have one kid because the cost of daycare and an oil change in the same month means I don’t eat.

I don’t know what the best solution is, but in Office mandates has put a tremendous amount of stress on the workforce - America and the American companies are failing their people who are truly trying to push forward through some very challenging circumstances.

Nestle CEO says Middle East conflict driving inflation, higher supplier costs

• Middle East accounts for about 2% to 3% of Nestle's roughly 90 billion Swiss francs in sales
• Nestle may buy strategically important brands as it reviews portfolio periodically, Navratil says
• Navratil says food manufacturers should join India talks on ​proposed front-of-pack warning labels

https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/nestle-ceo-says-middle-east-conflict-driving-inflation-higher-supplier-costs-2026-09-10/

Bloomberg Law is reporting that DHS is proposing a new $103,265 fee for cap-subject H-1B petitions, including petitions involving workers who are already in the United States.

This is separate from the earlier $100,000 H-1B entry fee that applied primarily to workers being brought into the country. That fee was struck down by a federal judge and is currently being appealed.

A few key points:

• The proposed fee would apply to H-1B petitions subject to the annual cap.
• That includes the regular 65,000 H-1B slots and the additional 20,000 advanced-degree slots.
• Universities, hospitals and certain research institutions would be exempt under the new proposal.
• The $103,265 would be in addition to other H-1B filing costs.
• DHS estimates the fee could generate approximately $8.8 billion per year.
• The US Chamber of Commerce says the fee could make H-1B hiring cost-prohibitive for many startups and small and midsize employers.

For employers that hire significant numbers of H-1B workers, this could materially change the economics of hiring. A company hiring 10 cap-subject H-1B employees could potentially face more than $1 million in these fees alone.

This is currently a proposed rule, not a fee that has already taken effect. The Bloomberg Law report is dated August 24, 2026.

Something to watch, especially at companies that rely heavily on H-1B hiring.

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/new-100-000-h-1b-fee-planned-for-foreign-workers-already-in-us

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-09-07/zeiss-overhauls-sap-cloud-migration-after-costs-hit-200-million

Is the cost of having Lg1, Lg2, Lg3, Lg4 higher in Mexico City? I heard the company has to provide cars, free health benefits, housing benefits in Mexico while there is no such shi* provided in US of A

Where is the budget coming from for my agent? Now that the official rollout has started, teams are going to be billed. Do people know this? Gonna cost my org an extra 300k/yr at least

Because mine certainly isn't.

Does anyone know how much DXC contributes towards an employee's health insurance - medical/dental/vision? Just a ballpark number.

It doesn't sound like they contribute 80/20 or 70/30 that some of the better performing companies do. I haven't used DXC's plan bcoz my spouse has a good one but was wondering if I had to use what would my cost vs DXC's be; I'm definitely saving DXC some money there right now.

It’s a bad sign that they’re having a whole coffee chat about the cost of care. Who has the pool going for the cost increase for employee benefits for 2027?

It's "deeply personal" 🤔

A sprained ankle shouldn't require anything but propping your ankle.

Get to the cost increase.

FTEs got laid off, contractors stayed on AND many got their contract renewed till 2027/12, right before the layoff! Contractors cost WAY MORE than FTEs, the math just doesn't add up!!!!

Did anyone notice that the last cycle saving account contribution didn't get credited to your sunlife account? Isn't this stuff supposedly regulated and a company could be penalized for error, like some type of interest/missing opportunity cost.

“How much less are the salaries in US Bank’s Chennai India technology center vs US based roles?”

ChatGPT: Quite a bit less. The public Chennai salary data are still sparse and sometimes internally inconsistent, but a reasonable estimate is that U.S. Bank technology labor in Chennai costs roughly 70–85% less in direct salary than comparable U.S.-based technology labor.

There are "senior leaders" within IT, specifically within the IT S&S org that have been blessed with the ability to be FULL TIME REMOTE.
Why are these "specials" allowed to work from: Florida, Ohio, San Antonio, Houston.
How is it cost effective for all these leaders to spend 3M $ to meet in MN once a month for a week?
Can anyone shed some light on this? Big bright spot light...

I just paid $4.29 for gas and dreading returning to office full time. Why isn’t Fidelity addressing this giant elephant in the room? This combined with everyday living expenses, how are people making it work?
If they want us back in full time, fine. But is now really the best time? They could let the dust settle, let prices come down, and then require full time back in office; we could continue our schedule we’ve been following for years now until then. It just seems completely tone deaf and I am sick of pretending this is fine and the new normal.

https://www.yahoo.com/autos/ev-and-future-tech/articles/585-hp-chinese-ev-looks-144500118.html

• Revenue +10% YoY to $2.396B, despite the average fleet being 1% smaller. That’s a strong sign that Hertz is getting more revenue out of its fleet.
• RPD +9% to $61.98 — a very important metric for Hertz. RPU was +8%.
• Adjusted EBITDA $81M, up from $18M last year — a $63M improvement and, importantly, above the top end of revised guidance. That’s one of the strongest pieces of evidence that the improvement is real.
• GAAP net income was +$64M, versus a $294M loss in Q2 2025. That’s a huge year-over-year improvement.
• The RPD vs. operating-cost spread improved 17%, for the third consecutive quarter. That’s particularly encouraging because it suggests the improvement isn’t simply a one-quarter fluke.
• Hertz says its full-year RPU should now be above $1,500, its “North Star” target.
• The fleet is much younger: 94% of the U.S. core fleet is 2025/2026 model year.

I found out the other day from a site lead that Boston is imminent. March 2027 is the projected day to have us into Boston both Westborough and Everett. This is very alarming. This is going to incur so much money for me coming from Westborough. I know that they just closed their are in the process of closing the Delaware office so they definitely are getting their ducks in a row to make sure that there’s only certain areas that are open. The site lead was hesitant to let us know but ended up telling us because he felt bad. it’s very concerning to me that both my manager and my director are not even relaying this information. I understand it will cause a spike in people departing, but wouldn’t you rather be forthcoming to individuals that you call a “family I don’t know my time here is definitely up. I’ve been looking, but just haven’t had any luck with finding a new job hopefully I can continue to do this through March 2027. I do not really want to go four days a week into Boston. The cost alone would drive my measly salary more into the ground.

Los Angeles Unified School District is projected to face a significant cash shortfall, prompting concerns about its financial stability. The district must revise its fiscal plan within 45 days to avoid increased county oversight. Experts suggest that declining enrollment, expiring COVID-19 relief funds, and rising operational costs are contributing factors. Tough decisions, including potential layoffs, furloughs, and school consolidation, are anticipated. The district is urged to rely on its own cost-cutting measures rather than expecting substantial state aid.

Los Angeles, California

https://edsource.org/2026/lausd-financial-crisis-looms/763170?amp=1

Entire empty buildings, with equipment on a single floor, are kept at refrigerator-like temperatures. Why?

Was there for quite a while paid upwards of $1300 a month for many many years.

Deductibles were high, even on the plan where they deductible was the least amount.

Prescriptions were expensive, even with that insurance.

Post Baker Hughes I’m coming to realize that their insurance was not all that great..

Now at a different employer with their insurance, it’s 1/3 cheaper per month deductibles are very, very low and prescription medicine is cheaper.

We have been "cost saving" for the last 5 years and we are STILL CUTTING. I chose to control my future rather than wait - this year or next - to be RIFd. This company does not care if you are an amazing employee - we are just numbers always take the money

https://www.twz.com/air/boeing-has-now-eaten-3b-in-air-force-one-cost-overruns

Lee College is proposing significant budget adjustments for fiscal year 2027 due to an anticipated $4 million reduction in state funding. These changes include eliminating 23 vacant positions, which represent $1.6 million in salaries, and cutting a summer course. The college will also implement a 3% cost-of-living adjustment for employees and increase the benefits budget. Despite these reductions, six new positions will be added, primarily to support the Huntsville Center's Associate of Arts program. The college board will finalize the budget in August.

Baytown, TX

https://baytownsun.com/local/lee-college-cuts-costs-closes-positions-no-layoffs-expected-for-fiscal-year-2027/article_830d3383-23ac-4d4a-bc7d-49de9ad9756d.html

Dominik Asam discussed the company’s enterprise AI strategy, explaining why businesses are becoming more focused on AI cost:

There is now a recognition that AI tokens are not free. Every enterprise we talk to is grappling with the fact that token spending is going through the roof.

There is now a recognition that throwing tokens, in a probabilistic way, at every problem might not be the most efficient approach.

There is also a fear of vendor lock-in, as certain models are starting to increase their prices.

That is why SAP has chosen a completely different architecture. I checked this morning, and we now have 58 large language models integrated into our AI platform.

This allows us to take advantage of competition across models, both in terms of performance and cost. We can also route each task to the most appropriate model.

Sometimes you do not need the most expensive model.

Even more importantly, sometimes you do not need a model at all. You can solve the problem in a deterministic, algorithmic, and easily auditable way by simply crunching the numbers.

At SAP, we have the ability to leverage all of these approaches.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZN8JPBNvs/

Which would you have picked if you had the option? Charlotte would make sense only for commute to work and cost of living. Dallas on the other hand has lots of companies if T lays you off a year later. Both cities are new to family and kids are still in schools.

How can fiscam justify the push of AI now that the costs are becoming clearer?
Another cost to drive share price much lower!

Just learned that there are lots of folks as monthly contractor under Salm / Jef h team in technology used as rate cart driver. Also, very expensive opex contractors still around. This is really new to me. We got laid off but this?

Further targeted layoffs are likely as part of sustained cost discipline. Q2 earnings (July 24) will provide the next update.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemmagreen/2026/07/02/ai-costs-more-than-the-people-it-replaced/?ref=wheresyoured.at

Most CEOs are starting to become aware of this and are trying to figure out solutions. Not us, though. SAP is doubling down. Wait until we start getting charged non-subsidized rates.

The rest of the tech world is now concerned about AI and its expense. Tokenmaxing is over. Industry is pivoting back to people. But what is CDW telling the street? That they will save 200M by using AI. Not likely, and late. What is CDW telling employees? "USE AI!! AI forward everyone" The amount of useless AI output is a major hidden cost in both tokens and time. Just wait until Q2 and Q3 to see the surprise token expense hit the bottom line.

SDS layoffs every 4 months but it costs over $500,000 to fly and lodge all SDS VPs and CIO as none of them live within 1000 miles of office. Is that wrong?

Real talent cost as much as PHK.