#culture

I've been a Team Manager in claims with State Farm for over 30 years. I'm retiring this year after I get my MIP. Honestly feel sooooo sorry for everyone that has to stay. There have always been periods of ups and downs at SF. These last 10 years and especially this year have been an absolute nightmare. When I got promoted to TM in 1997, my boss told me to be sure to leave SF better than I found it. I tried my best but failed. The people running State Farm are absolute parasites, make no mistakes about it. To all employees, leave this place before it drains your soul, and damages your mental and physical health beyond repair. This place is just not worth it. Not saying the grass is greener on the other side but at least see if it is. The Executive leadership you have is exploiting you for only their gain, have destroyed any ounce of decency left at State Farm and are just pure clueless sc-m bags. All they want is conformity, not your opinion. All the Peakon, Voice and View, Skip Level Meetings cr-p are all just the same smoke and mirrors that the politicians use to steal you blind. It's not your TMs fault, but there are TMs that are bad and make it even worse as they drink the Kool Aid. There are still a few decent TMs/SMs that try to do the right thing but if they get caught doing it they get punished. State Farm is a sinking ship, that they crashed, and now the Captain and other officers are stepping over the elderly, women and children to save themselves and kicking people off the life boats. I get you need to pay the bills, but find a way out sooner than later. This get's a lot worse and does every day. I almost feel dirty everyday I have to work at this place, and you know deep down what this company is doing is just wrong at every level. Get out, just get out, Sorry, hope that helps some of you decide.

Can’t support a company upending American workers’ lives while stuffing the execs pockets with millions.

Just switched over 4 lines this weekend and convinced 4 other family members to switch to T Mobile.

The best part is that T Mobile is in fact cheaper for everyone. So it’s a win - win.

Verizon employees have been advised (through management) not to speak on any social media or face being pulled into 'review meetings.' We're not even allowed to post group outings, literally nothing.

What in the world is going on?

I’ve tried to stay on the positive side of this for a long time. It is quickly fading.

Too many initiatives, not enough people to drive them and not enough time to manage people effectively.

When you wake up and dread coming to work each morning, it’s time to do something different.

get out of this company ASAP

Is it just a skill issue or is it really hard to get promoted without bullsh-tting a lot in meetings?

This company has the most micro managing toxic leadership ever. Avoid it if you can. The pressure is productivity. It's a sweatshop. Leadership will smile while they stab you in the back. Hypocrisy is big here.

https://nypost.com/2025/11/14/business/ousted-verizon-boss-could-still-pocket-most-of-20m-salary-as-company-cuts-15000-jobs-report/

Seems lazy to just cut 15% across board and say AI will solve all Verizons woes. Lots of stupid decisions over last 10 years that has dragged us into the quagmire. No easy solutions and the old slash and burn technique will not really help. Seems the problem solving approach is gone and AI will solve all our ills. Again lazy and uninspired leadership.

@aj+1ka6kcsxq hit the nail on the head.

how many times will LC say AI. Drinking game!

When I first entered this industry decades ago I was told by a fellow associate who had been in the industry for decades themselves this is how leaders who are insecure operate. In my decades in the industry I have seen this first hand for myself to know my former fellow associate was correct. I feel this is playing out again at Edward Jones right before my eyes again. Weak leaders who are insecure about their own abilities come in and make drastic changes in order to justify their existence. Many times they are handed companies who are in great positions even making record net income (sound familiar?). I was at a company that had a leadership change. The new leadership came in from another larger company. When they took over we had a conference call. The new leadership said they were implementing this plan that did not work at their former larger company. They admitted they made mistakes, but assured us they had learned from their mistakes and were not going to make the same mistakes at our company. In the meantime they shut down our department and I was laid off. Nine months later I received a call saying they were getting the old band back together and asking if I wanted to come back. Some people went back, but most people including myself had moved on and never looked back. The leadership at this company made drastic changes, severely disrupted thousands of lives, and in the end nothing really changed. The company is still positioned in the same spot as they were before these drastic changes. Then new leadership comes in again and many times they change policy back to the original plan in order to make changes for the sake of making change in order to justify their own existence. Penny was handed a great company in a great spot. She just could not help herself. Here we go again. Let's bring in Chubak who laid thousands off at Citi and now Citi has already reversed many of his decisions. DC has been proven to be a failed leader and Penny has hitched her wagon to him. By the time Penny is done with this firm she will have spent millions of dollars and disrupted thousands of people's lives and the company will be in the same position as when she took over. Look at our past few managing partners. They stood by the firm's long tested and tried policies and we saw significant slow and steady growth to put us in the best situation we have ever been in. Even Penny has said these drastic changes are being made from a position of strength not weakness. There is an old saying in investing and business. It goes, "Bulls make money, bears make money, but pigs get sla-ghtered. Don't be hoggish." There is even a sign in the West entrance of the South St. Louis Campus that says, "Buy and hold". Make sure you make your money, but don't get greedy. These are the tenants that got this firm to where it is today. Slow and steady growth. A stable ship led with a stable hand. Think of JW navigating a horrible 2008 economy. The firm came out of 2008 better than when we went in. Penny is being greedy. She is burning many associates and she is going to get burnt herself.

That’s all they care about. People in Mar solutions and other places keep going on about leadership visibility but it’s all about their own pay. They could care less about you

In 1897, while most factory women labored 14-hour days in dangerous, filthy conditions for pennies, the women at H.J. Heinz’s Pittsburgh factory received hot meals, medical care, and even had rooftop gardens. They worked for a man who believed something radical: that workers were human.

The photograph shows women in white aprons at their stations, bottling ketchup—filling, capping, labeling—hour after hour. Yet their faces are not hollow or broken; they look dignified, almost content. In the Gilded Age, when industrial progress was built on disposable labor, this was extraordinary. Factories were typically dark, unsafe, and exploitative, but Heinz’s factory was different.

Henry John Heinz, who began his company in 1869 with bottled horseradish, built an empire on quality food. By the 1880s, his slogan “57 Varieties” symbolized trust, but he also pursued a quieter revolution: treating workers with dignity. His Pittsburgh factory, opened in 1888, was clean, bright, and safe, with white uniforms laundered by the company.

The amenities were unprecedented: free hot meals, locker rooms with showers, on-site medical care, manicure services, rooftop gardens, and educational programs. Workers learned English, sewing, and cooking, investing in their future. Critics thought Heinz was crazy, but his approach paid off: loyalty was high, turnover low, and productivity strong.
During the 1894 economic depression, while other factories laid off workers, Heinz expanded, keeping everyone employed and offering support. Employees remembered his personal care and reassurance during hard times. By the early 1900s, the factory became famous not just for ketchup, but as a model of welfare capitalism, attracting visitors eager to see its progressive approach.
Women at Heinz worked with skill and dignity, often coming from families trapped in brutal steel mills. Sarah O’Brien, a worker from 1895 to 1919, wrote that they were treated “like proper ladies,” experiencing clean work, fair wages, and personal respect from Heinz himself.

H.J. Heinz died in 1919, but his philosophy endured. Those women were pioneers, proving that fair treatment wasn’t weakness but smart business. Every bottle of Heinz ketchup carries their legacy—not just a product, but evidence that capitalism can be humane. In 1897, inside that Pittsburgh factory, a quiet revolution was happening, one bottle at a time.

in R this week. Tell mgmt how much you hate Viya. Meetup workshops for directors and VPs on how to write vague linkedin posts about wanting a new challenge. Everyone else can attend a session about applying for unemployment during the holidays.

Since the rumors started, my workload has exploded. I was already busy in my role, but now other work groups have been piling meetings and projects onto my calendar—almost as if they’re trying to prove how “busy” they are.

At this point, I’m sitting in 8–10 hours of back-to-back meetings most days.

As if anyone is actually checking calendars to make decisions. 😂

A leader with a supposed high-integrity image often maintains it only by removing the people who saw otherwise, notice which leader they were removed by , then look higher, you’ll see who is also in the brand games

I walk the Vz br cafe and while I’m hearing the gloom and doom talk I am blasted by a 120 inch screen w Kevin heart as a ice cream cone, than Pete Davidson for a Vz commercial. Like are we fr? Why are we paying millions to these mo--ns? You think that having those guys in a commercial helps the bottom line even by .0000001 ? NO. Stop wasting millions on stupidity, Jesus

You know, telling us way in advance then going completely silent, allowing us to speculate, panic, fear, then eventually fight about it. There's a LOT of psychology happening amongst us in these boards. That's not my field of education or expertise, but it's fascinating to me, all the same.

Then again, it could just be the unfortunate byproduct of a new CEO with a different narcissistic driven output from the previous guy.

I’m done with RTO for the rest of the year. Seriously. This whole 5 day grind has drained every ounce of motivation I had left. If we aren’t back to a sane hybrid schedule next year, I’m out. No hesitation. No second guessing.

I love my work, I’m good at it, and I’ve given this place more than enough chances to get its act together. But I’m not sacrificing my health, my time, or my sanity for a policy that does nothing but burn people out and push talent out the door.

Fix it or lose the people who actually keep this place running. The clock’s ticking.

It's frustrating when the leaders responsible for AI implementation are completely out of touch. The folks actually building the solutions are not the ones attending major industry AI events.

Instead, we get VPs and CDOs who secured their positions through politics, not expertise. They talk big about "AI models" and use all the buzzwords in meetings, but have zero technical background and have never written a line of AI code.

The gap between leadership talk and ground-level reality is HUGE. This is why we struggle to innovate. Stop promoting boot-lickers and start promoting builders! Reduce slide preparations and do actual work.

If Dan really wants AI to transform, remove all top level execs from AI&D/EDAI team and replace with real folks who has some background in this space. Otherwise, this will remain as myth.

Seriously employees and manager need to boycott tires all talk no action. They abusing employees and no one is standing up for them

(To the tune of: Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys)

Mammas, don't let your babies grow up to work for Big Red Don't let 'em pick networks or chase that 5G Make 'em be doctors and lawyers and such Mammas, don't let your babies grow up to work for VZ They'll never be home, and they'll always be stressed Even if they give you their all, they'll just cut you to be "lean"

(Verse 1) He'd bleed red and black, wore the polo with pride Believed in the network, felt good deep inside He missed kids' ballgames for "critical work" Now he's a "cost transformation," a shareholder perk.

(Chorus) 'Cause they'll get a new CEO from PayPal, you see Who talks about "culture" and "scrappy" He'll take a fifty-million-dollar bonus and then Cut fifteen thousand people just before the holidays again.

(Verse 2) He heard all the rumors, the "critical inflection" The talk about "synergy" and "cost correction" Then the call came on Thursday, "November the 20th" "We're making you 'leaner'," just a number, not a person.

(Chorus) 'Cause they'll get a new CEO from PayPal, you see Who talks about "culture" and "scrappy" He'll take a fifty-million-dollar bonus and then Cut fifteen thousand people just before the holidays again.

(Bridge) They'll say you're all "family" when they want your long hours But you're just a line item when they're in the glass towers They're losin' subscribers, so you'll pay the steep price While Dan Schulman's bonus is lookin' real nice.

(Verse 3) So Mammas, go tell 'em before they sign on That loyalty's a one-way street, and then it is gone They don't care about you, just the stock and the churn It's a "Home for the Holidays" lesson you'll learn.

(Outro Chorus) Yeah, they'll get a new CEO from PayPal, you see Who talks about "culture" and "scrappy" He'll take a fifty-million-dollar bonus and then Cut fifteen thousand people just before the holidays again.

If you are working hard for this company, dont. They dont deserve any of our efforts or loyalty. They have to be the most hated group of "leaders" in Chevron history and might rank up there on most hated in US history. They single handedly took a much loved company to one that the employees cant stand. They should be ashamed!

Jobs sit empty, people quit without warning, and benefits keep shrinking while profits grow. Don't even get me started on the raises. This is not an employee friendly place and it never was.

I’ve watched this place grind people down for years and it still feels the same. I don’t expect anything from here anymore, just a regular paycheck. It’s strange staying somewhere you can’t stand, but work is work. I’m keeping my head down until something better lines up.

I’ve been here long enough to see how everything revolves around the same tight circles. If you’re not in their little social crew, you’re stuck watching others get pushed ahead. It makes the whole place feel small and predictable. I’ve stopped expecting anything fair from the system.

In the words of one former CEO…Lessssss gooooooooo! Ayyyyyeeeeeee.

Working at this bank feels like watching a reality show with no script. Ideas fly around, half of them make no sense, and somehow projects still move forward like it’s all totally normal. I just sit there wondering when someone will notice how crazy things actually are.

What I don’t see is Nike ever reaching the heights of its old glory again. I actually used to enjoy working here. Now it just feels like any other random job that could vanish at any moment, and I wouldn't even care. You can’t be invested when leadership isn’t, and you can’t feel like part of a team when there’s no team left. We’ve become bland, and cutting people seems to be the only strategy they have to stay afloat.

I keep hearing folks whisper about layoffs like it’s something to hide, and I don’t get it. Most of us end up caught in one at some point and it’s got nothing to do with our worth. I’ve been through it myself and the silence only makes everything heavier. We shouldn’t act like losing a job is some kind of personal flaw.

It cracks me up how people talk about teamwork at TD like it’s some magical thing happening every day. Most of us are just patching holes and trying to keep things from falling apart while a few folks float from chat to chat. We stay because life outside the job is expensive, not because we want to be here. I've been here long enough to remember the time when that wasn't the case, but it certainly is now.

Used to be that if you got a job here, you were set. You could actually plan a future, take pride in the work. Now it’s all about cost cuts. They’ve traded loyalty for churn, and it shows.

Narcissism is the only explanation for sending weekly videos of yourself in a sleeveless workout shirt to the entire CX org. I'm guessing he thinks it makes him "cool" or impresses us that he's outside, but really it's hard for us to imagine having no self-cringe-radar. The cost of PC replacements in CX must be enormous, cause I want to smash my computer every Saturday when he sends the video over. Each Monday I just hope that my face is not locked into a permacringe stance because I don't want customers to have to feel my pain. Andy, please help CX because this is the most feckless leader I've encountered in my career.

Ooh still seems we have one:

https://www.verizon.com/about/our-company/code-conduct

Seems it’s just about half the length it used to be, and what we lived up to daily, which made us great.. up until our management disregarded it in their daily life’s…

Mass shareholder returns is driven by having happy customers…

Is there happy customers?
Can we do a poll on redit?

By coincidence but this weekend I discovered a movie on Tubi called “The Company Men”…gives good perspective about the corporate shenanigans many of us have been caught up in. Recommend giving it a watch.

The fanatical obsession with meeting next quarter's numbers to mollify Wall Street is diametrically opposed to being a strong innovation company. The linkage between end customers and CRL and Divisions was very strong for decades. It covered all businesses. Major advances in road sign and road paint to improve nighttime visibility was a classic win-win. Think how many lives have been saved. Just pulled my winter gloves out for the first real cold blast of early Winter and love seeing Thinsulate.

Desi may have been a so-so CEO and perhaps a good example of Peter Principle, but the innovation didn't die with him. The problem began with James McNerney. He's the one who decided the penny-wise pound-foolish strategy of starving CRL to pay for bigger dividends or buying back shares was a winning strategy. WS loved the guy. Employees not so. Other than a 20% boost in 3M share price the week he was announced in 2000, the share price didn't beat the SP500 by much for the rest of his failed tenure. Inge borrowing billions to buyback shares and scare off activist investors saved his and Mike's job but left the company starved of new blockbusters.

Like Field of Dreams (build it and he will come), for CRL is needs to be "invent it and customers will come" - BBs obsession with NPIs only breeds game-playing (how about a peach colored sticky note, any one?). When Desi pushed for 30% of sales from new products, he at least fully funded CRL. BB, nope!

Just happy I somehow made it to the right age/experience to get pension and retiree medical support (although BB is sc--wing people over to be "competitive"). I see no future left with this place. Just pump it full of painkiller and break it off into pieces and hope the divisions don't end up with a Bryan Hanson 40 million dollar man doing what he's doing to wreck SOLV.

Perfectly said, @z9+1k9bbemrv.

What happened to the talent at this firm? Was I hallucinating or was life at the firm better before?

I’m starting to think I was gaslighting myself to think my coworkers were competent professionals. They’re neither competent, nor professionals anymore.