#culture

A Very Simple Plan to Reset AT&T

1. Cancel the new HQ project and redirect that capital toward the things that actually matter. Use a portion of those savings to fund a responsible workforce transition and right-size the company for the future.

2. Give employees a choice. Offer virtual status to roles that can be done remotely, and provide location incentives for those who choose to work in-office or whose roles require it. Stop treating every employee the same and start managing based on outcomes.

3. Get aggressive on debt reduction while prioritizing fiber expansion, network investment, and the technology needed to compete.

4. Restore trust with employees, rebuild the culture, and focus everyone on winning instead of compliance.

AT&T doesn’t need more buildings, more bureaucracy, or more policies measuring where people sit. It needs a clear strategy, disciplined capital allocation, and a workforce focused on innovation.

The market rewards companies that make hard decisions and invest in the future. Get the strategy right, and the stock will take care of itself.

internal sentiment at this company is too negative. hard to work with some people/teams with sh-t attitude and outlook as a motivated new hire and outsider, trying to make it work. cant even explain how much worse my last gig was and it was rated one of the best global employers, for years, as fortune 100. opentext is no different than other companies: team, manager, business group dictates all. if you’re developing a 30+ year old product to match what industry solution peers already have……please. like get real about who you are, what you do, the market, the future, and show up with some humility and accountability. /rant

Not sure I understand how this happened. I’ve only been here 5 years, but the Sport Research Lab seems to have crazy low morale. A lot of people are abusing the workplace complaints system to attack bosses and colleagues. It didn’t always seem like this. Now leadership is doing these silly culture exercises to try and solve this huge problem because everyone is afraid of being targeted by their own co-workers.

Is it like this in other departments? Because it’s really bad over here in NSRL.

How is that even possible with all the ** happening here?

In John’s Q2 results email he said, “We’ll need to embrace a market-based culture and continue executing against our 2026 priorities.”

That got me thinking… what exactly does “market-based” mean?

A market-based system generally means rewards and consequences are tied to performance. High performers create more value and are rewarded accordingly. Poor decisions and poor performance have consequences. Resources flow to what works, and what doesn’t work gets changed or terminated… That’s not how this place feels.

For employees, compensation isn’t meaningfully tied to individual performance. Top performers and average performers often receive very similar outcomes, while broad policies apply to everyone regardless of results.

And if we’re truly going to talk about a market-based culture, shouldn’t that standard apply at every level of the organization, including leadership?

A market-based culture shouldn’t just measure employees. It should measure strategies, capital allocation, recruiting, retention, culture, innovation, and long-term shareholder value.

The phrase “market-based” only has meaning if accountability flows both ways. Otherwise, it’s just another slogan.

All of you gloating over the 2% increase in stock price today, just keep in mind that the stock is still 33% lower than it was 15 years ago and pays out only 70% of the dividend. The stock has grown $1.50 since Stank became CEO and dividend has gone down. Certainly nothing to crow about. RTO destroyed a once great American company.

Manika says we have to be on camera when we wfh.

Robin Vince announcing his appointment to the OpenAI board reads like peak corporate satire: the CEO of a bank whose employees publicly describe leadership as opaque, dismissive, and allergic to accountability is now helping steer the future of “responsible AI.”

Sadly, it’s almost poetic. At BNY, Vince champions AI as a “capacity creator,” which is a polite way of saying it helps leadership know more, move faster, and replace people more efficiently — a theme not lost on the thousands of workers and former workers posting their experiences on this forum.

His statement about deploying AI “responsibly, securely, and with strong governance” lands awkwardly when employees can’t even get responsible communication about layoffs, offshoring, or the never‑ending transformation cycle. And the part about AI benefiting “all of humanity”? BNY staff might settle for it benefiting even just a fraction of its workforce.

The real comedy is the humility act — Vince describing himself as “humbled and grateful” while employees describe him as absent, evasive, and increasingly disconnected from the reality inside his own institution.

If OpenAI truly wants to understand how AI impacts people, they’ve now got a board member whose own employees already feel like failed test cases.

How can someone who is so out of touch possibly guide humanity’s future while BNY employees can’t get straight answers during his entire tenure with the firm?

Eliza? . . . Eliza? . . . Can we get a little help here?!?!

Are we submitting questions or assuming that even with the format pivot we aren’t going to get real, honest answers to questions.

Personally, I hope people submit their toughest questions and demand accountability from MKW. It’s been a sh*t couple of years and that’s largely on him and the rest of leadership.

So who's ready for the sh-t show TOWN HALL tomorrow. Anyone have any TEA to discuss? good luck everyone we usually see the storm the following week.

Sit up straight and take note: The key highlight from the Raytheon Global Town Hall is Raytheon is hiring and hiring bodies -including your kids, grand kids, neighborhood friends and family members, the local bartender, the bagger at the grocery store, kids at the carwash, telemarketers... there is no need to have any experience as one can make a career at Raytheon attending meetings or training without the expectation of performing any work. Even those with a tepid pulse whose only skill is to occupy a chair need apply as Raytheon is anxiously awaiting your arrival with open arms.

Just my opinion, but after the last organizational shake-up, I wouldn’t be surprised if history repeats itself.

One question I keep coming back to: A.C. championed the “ways of working” in the previous CXO organization. Has anyone objectively looked at whether those same approaches may have contributed to some of the challenges the organization faced?

Hopefully the new organization has a different outcome—but time will tell. 🍿

Whats new or different on your review and goals being stressed? Im assuming when mine comes it will be more hyperventilating about using AI and being pushed in thinking of new ways to use AI or commit to taking some type of AI training or certiications. Seems like this will all be used to eliminate anyone not 100% in on the AI cult mentality.

Matt Carr had an all hands yesterday. He said we need to move on from the laid off employees, was laughing the entire time and came off as an arrogant fat man. Not to mention, was complimenting women for looking good, super weird. There was a tornado warning alarm that went off and he dismissed it and kept the call going. He’s not fit for that job. What makes him a psychopath more than anything is that he promised no more lay offs but we all know that lay offs will continue. These “leaders” are clueless.

the work you do is meaningless. This job is meaningless. They don’t care about you. Go find a better job. This company will never recover from this. They are programming you to endure this type of dystopian workplace nightmare don’t accept it. Run. Layoffs will continue. Org charts are still bloated.

You should not feel disrespected. You should be grateful and eager to work hard with a song in your heart!

The sales manager cowards have all awoken from their coffins and have been unearthed - they cannot handle the pressure from the CRO and are funneling down the pressure. New VP nice guy but dud and already rolling out day 0 day 1 day 30 day 90 forecasting methods starting August and he thinks this is going to fix the horrid decline of this abomination of a company. SRD Kb lost her marbles and never make her number once as rep or dir or SRd she fire so many reps and replace with all duds already selling nothing what a joke

they all are cowards now writing big AI gen threaten emails to engineers support staff sales everyone

these are all big joke ppl

cro is biggest joke the tech industry has ever seen nobody gives a rats a-s about him or his life story or troubles no one like you! Leave cro!

I’m taking about the obvious ones (Veeva Systems, IQVIA, etc). Are they currently hiring Medidata employees? Any no-compete clauses for your standard IC/middle management personnel? Are they also going through the same layoff and cultural struggles as Medidata right now? For anyone working for Medidata competitors (either of equal size or smaller) has it been an improvement for your mental health?

What is the point in feedback sessions if it is always the same nonsense talking points then why take the time for a meeting.

What is the purpose of the 3rd office day? He-l, hardly anybody does it and lots of other teams barely come in for the required 2 days & are still employed. They come in for a few hours, swipe badge and are out.

Somehow, over last 10 years, especially since 2019 things have gone to sh-t. Now, you may say it's her and I'd agree but I think we have major problem stemming from the weak c-level lineup (and one layer below).

Is there any company in the world that has a worse ratio of good engineers to sh---y managers?

What are our marketing teams even doing? Millions of dollars were spent on cramming celebrities into an Ad that made no sense meanwhile adidas’ Ad was everywhere. We couldn’t escape it this World Cup. Who is signing off on these Ads? The London billboard debacle as well was embarrassing. It seems marketing has lost a step. All that effort just for two adidas teams to reach the final is fitting for how Nike’s turnaround has been going

The stock that AMD removed from the employees that were laid off in the last 3 years could be restored as a good will gesture considering the company gains.

It would be an act of class that shows AMDs true colors, nature and humble culture that is always talked about.

When is the board of directors and everyone else going to wake up and realize that John Stank has provided no value to the company for a long time! He is no longer relevant and if he doesn’t like the truth he can retire or find another company willing to take on an aging dinosaur. The culture under John is toxic and has been for too long.

I thought their reputation preceded them. I thought they cared. I thought they’d respect me and the quality of work I do day in day out with much overtime. I thought they offered respect
So far I’m finding I was duped by this persons.
I feel like they don't give a rats behind about me, my qualifications, my skills I’m just a number.
Something shifted maybe HR co-opted Abby with their lies and divisive mentality of the dei legion. But they aren’t looking to promote or help or encourage solid employees. Very disappointed.

:)

They don’t care about you xoxo

Joel didn't say anything meaniful, I had looked forward so much to that townhall like it was the Oscar's, it was just a waste if 1hr, couldn't answer any question straightforward or plainly

Whoever had the idea to bring on a dog as the Chief Pawsitivity Officer is a genius. She’s super cute and everyone loves her. She has a fan clubs. Great distraction to the fires burning all around the Association as they lay folks off and cut back on benefits, etc.

The CEO and his imps are now using draconian methods to ensure compliance to the new order. They are tracking attendance to stupid things like claude presenations. If you don't attend you may find yourself on the next "restructuring" list

How come the majority of EMG in Member Protection (aka Fraud/Disputes in the Bank) were promoted in the first half of the year (EDs to AVPs, and AVPs to VPs) but non-EMG employees can’t get basic promotions in place approved? Like seriously, you can’t get an employee promoted from a level 3 to a 2 or a 2 to a 1. They get denied or you hear nothing for months on end. Not even trying to get people into Lead position, just into positions that they should be in based on performance and experience and yet so many EMG have been promoted like nothing. Just because you don’t send out promotion emails doesn’t mean we don’t know or see it. Absolutely ridiculous!

For those who forgot we had a coworker die in the office and she was not discovered for several days. How many systems failed her? If you think you should give your life to this company remember that happened. Reinvest in your family and community.

“An apologist is someone who writes or speaks to defend and justify a specific belief, cause, or institution, especially one that faces criticism.”

Managers need to STOP being apologists for U.S. Bank and defending bad behavior. While you’re not expected to speak ill of the company publicly , you will gain more respect of direct reports if you’re in line with reality. We can spot fakeness. Those that see U.S. Bank with rose tinted glasses are looked at with disdain. Whatever corporate carrot 🥕 you’re chasing here isn’t worth it if no one respects you at the end of the day.

So there is a new tactic that everyone should know about. Since performance management was released, managers have been in touch with HR to understand how they can give more money to their reports that are their friends or family. And the only solution from HR is this -> employees that are seen as critical to business needs and have a legal offer letter from another company will get a salary hike above the normal SAP limitations to match their offer.

So basically, if you have a friend who has a company, ask them to create an AI-related job for you and make you and offer - it has to be a written offer and cannot be just an email or verbal confirmation. And then your managers starts the process by creating an HR ticket and getting an exception for you and increasing your salary.

But the caveat is this - HR has been asked to reject as many of these as possible.

For a handful of roles where a manager is well connected within SAP, they will get HR to approve this and give 10% or more salary hikes. For almost all other roles, they will decline and then HR will flag that you are not committed to working at SAP and find ways to get rid of your role.

So if your area executive or T5 manager of managers or your T4/T5 manager is asking you to find a good role and get an offer and use it to increase your salary, DO NOT DO THAT. A lot of area executives are peddling this as an idea to work around performance management limitations. It is a farce.

This only works if that manager has already made a deal with HR. Otherwise you will not get an increased salary but be asked to join that other job. HR is doing this to easily identify people who can be laid off without a severance. They are also using sick leave and AI usage data to decide who should be put on a performance improvement plan and laid off subsequently.

Be careful of the sneaky HR and area executives and managers.

For those that don't know, CUSA is surrounded by woods and open space. The area has lots of wildlife. Fox, geese, and others. All those working there have never had issues with this. Wildlife happens. Enter CFS. Decoy coyotes are now ALL OVER the parking lot and building. Being randomly and regularly moved by the new security guy that CFS apparently demanded we employ. CFS are soft, overly privileged, and clueless. I can't with them. I wonder if they know about the wildlife with no legs that get into the building or the 2 legged varieties that call the river bank "home".

Hope in one hand and relieve yourself in the other and see which one fills up first.

And repeat the mantra "I am a close personal friend of John Donovan".

When will portfolio SEs be pooled resources and not be involved with initial discovery calls?

Just goes to show you how Cisco values SEs.

Why are we measuring workplace engagement with physical badge swipes? Is this how effective leaders measure employee engagement in 2026 when tech enables top talent to collaboration from anywhere? Policies like this make employees less engaged. What are we doing here? Who is signing off on these policies? Were there literally no better ideas?! We are going to become a case study: The Collapse of the Edward Jones Culture - How Not To Lead.

Ask around and you'll hear real frustration. With Gunjan/leadership, with direction, with a culture that's betting worse, high workloads, burnout.... But turnover is basically nothing. People stay for years, sometimes decades.

That's a weird combo. Usually when people are this unhappy, they leave. So what's actually keeping everyone here?

My guesses:

Golden handcuffs. Pension, benefits, tenure perks that are hard to walk away from
Grass isn't greener thinking. Assuming other places have the same problems anyway
Complaining isn't the same as job hunting. Sometimes it's just how people vent
Not a lot of comparable roles nearby to jump to

Anyone who's been here a while, what's actually kept you?