#favoritism

I can’t confirm whether every rumor going around is true, but I can speak to what many of us see and feel inside the team. There’s a clear sense of favoritism and decisions that don’t always seem based on merit.
It’s also concerning to watch the CEO receive multimillion‑dollar compensation while work is being sent overseas, reducing local opportunities and creating even more uncertainty for employees.
This isn’t about attacking anyone or repeating unverified claims. It’s about pointing out a culture where some people protect each other while others are left vulnerable, which naturally creates distrust and discourages those who work with integrity.
Fair leadership should focus on transparency, equity, and real accountability.

Today we found out that a member from my team who has only been on the team for two years will be getting promoted. That person is still very new and has a lot of questions and in my opinion work to do. One of other members on the team who has been here for 6 years is always helpful, knowledgeable, and shockingly passed for this promotion. If anyone deserves it then it’s him and I’m shocked he didn’t get it. Surprised manager or vp didn’t feel this way and went with the other team member.

It's becoming impossible to ignore the fact that certain people get access to opportunities the rest of us don't even know exist, not to mention are considered for. It's always the same names for every good project, every interesting assignment. I guess hard work doesn't matter if you're not in the right group.

I just watched someone present the project I've been leading for months as if they did all the work. No mention of me, no acknowledgment, just their name on my effort. This isn't the first time either. I'm so tired of watching other people build their reputations off what I actually do.

My manager plays favorites openly, and if you're not in the clique, good luck. And God forbid you push back, suddenly you're on their radar in the worst way. Toxic doesn't even cover it.

What’s exhausting is the sense that there’s a permanent inner circle. The same names recommend each other, amplify each other, and open doors for each other while outsiders are quietly ignored. It creates a culture where talent and contribution matter less than who you’re already connected to.

I filed a complaint with HR against my horrible manager last December and never received a response. I followed and still heard nothing.
Last week, during my 1:1 with him, I told him I had tolerated enough and confronted him about favoritism, dishonesty, improper practices, and unethical behavior. A couple of days later, HR suddenly scheduled a private meeting on my calendar.
In that meeting, they told me not to discuss the matter with anyone and said the investigation was about my interaction with my manager that happened on Monday. When I asked why no one ever reviewed the complaint I submitted four months ago, they gave vague excuses. I then pointed out that the same HR representative interviewing me now was the one assigned for the case I opened months ago...Because I’m not in management, they ignored my complaint. HR is useless...

Look around at who gets ahead. It's the people who say yes to everything and know how to flatter the right folks. They can't actually do the technical work. Ask them to solve a real problem and they fall apart. Empathy? Leadership skills? Not a chance. They just know how to climb.

You get to experience favoritism, nepotism, and exploitation. No growth at all. Leaders who only care about themselves and face no consequences for anything. Great place.

Watching promotions happen makes you wonder whether performance is really the deciding factor.

After years of working hard and doing everything possible to earn a director role, I eventually realized I was being strung along. My director repeatedly made promises about promotion that never came through, while simultaneously expecting me to prioritize hiring people from his own nationality. That environment made it clear that growth there was never going to be based on merit for women at this company. Walking away was not easy, but I’m incredibly relieved to have finally found a way forward.

I don't get it. I've watched two managers make huge errors, cost the company, and get promoted anyway. No connections, just rewarded for failure. What am I missing?

MST home dispatch tech use and abuse company assets. They drive 100K-200K bucket trucks to their home and back to their home garage everyday. Big V8 6.3 L engines use a lot of gas and insurance on top. Also, with MST high pay and only have .5 job per tech a day per tech how is that saving company money and liability.
There are rules to follow when joining home dispatch program. Following the rules helps save gas and time and wear and tear on a vehicle used to drive to work and to home. But MSTs abuse this program from driving to the garage every day and dispatching at the garage. Making a stop at the grocery store to grocery shop in the company vehicle before driving home. Not closing your last job at the job site and instead, drive home and being still dispatched on your work ticket and then closing the job when you arrive home. I follow the rules, and I do not want the home dispatch program to go away because of MSTs taking advantage of the abuse. Also, MST managers are favoring many MSTs and letting the home dispatch MSTs do what ever they want. STOP ABUSING THE HOME DISPATCH PROGRAM YOU MSTs. You know who you are...

How can an individual contributor ever hope for an exceeds expectations rating when they are being calibrated against managers? The visibility, opportunities, and important meetings that managers are privy to isn't an option for individual contributors -- at least not on my team. It is not a level playing field. The managers should be calibrated against other managers, and individual contributors against other individual contributors. This would require more of a general pool approach with milestones adjusted per level-- not so much role. Managers should be expected to perform at a higher level, but the way it's set up now, the bar is same for managers and individual contributors, yet the opportunities to exceed the bar is not. With the "rationing" of exceeds expectations -- it is even more important that at least the playing field is as fair as possible. There is also too much of an opportunity for nepotism and favortism the way it is set up now. Where are the checks and balances? How do you keep someone from saving a favorite who is barely performing at all by stealing from the kitty to under rate a top performer?

i'd start with "eliminating favoritism" - it's soo rampant in my group...

Supposedly Belk corporate has been urged to rethink and reorganize the best of belk awards for 2026 as many employees say they can be construed as favoritism and discriminatory. If associates receiving the awards are receiving gratis, small gifts, extra employee discount, or other perks, and the qualifications for the award are vague, unclear, or if someone with better metrics and performance didn’t receive an award it can be a strong discrimination/favoritism issue.

Are promotions based on performance, or is it just a leadership friendship club benefit?

Hey HR ask these questions on the next survey!

Is leadership a meritocracy or a friendship club?
Do promotions require performance or proximity?
Is feedback only “constructive” when it comes from certain mouths?
Are stretch assignments reserved for the already favored?
Does accountability skip over the chosen few?
When mistakes happen, does context matter more depending on who made it?
Is visibility earned, or inherited through alignment?
Are we building a team, or curating a personality match collection?
If English fluency equals competence, are we measuring skill or accent?
When someone “plays d-mb,” is it ignorance or convenience?
If fairness is real, why is the pattern so predictable?
Why does “culture fit” always seem to fit the same people?

It’s draining pretending not to see it. It’s more draining pretending it doesn’t affect morale.

has anyone noticed company treat H‑1B employees like rare Pokémon during layoff carefully protected while the rest of us get tossed like common cards?

Ah, the time of year where the company creates this jealousy & favoritism vibe with peak awards, many folks in my org who got it marginally deserve, but others who work tireless hours got not even a nomination…i flirted with jealousy and feeling some type of way til i was reminder many of those who got laid off were peak/winners circle, etc award winners, so in the end, does it matter?

Can anyone remember the last time a promotion went to the most qualified person, and not just someone's friend or relative? I feel like genuine merit-based advancement doesn't exist at this company anymore. How are we even supposed to stay motivated in such an environment?

For a large corporation exxon is the run worst. I truly hate the place and people at exxon. The toxicity, gossip, underhanded backstabbing, favoritism,neopotism and extreme bureaucracy are impossible to tolerate. Promotions are based on who you are and how much the supers and managers like you. If you are a snitch also helps with promotion as well. Employees who move up on the backs of others. I have never worked at such a vile, disgusting and evil place in my life. I am on the way out as my ranking is dropping but I don't care. I was constantly told I needed to work harder or longer hours so I did sometimes 60 hours per week. It was never enough though. Meanwhile other employees only worked 35 to 40 hours per week. These others were protected individuals. I was given a good rating while the protected got excellent. It is a totally unfair and rigged system that I am sick of. I am leaving to join a smaller company at 2/3 the pay off exxon. The insurance is better and I get the same amount of vacation. The working environment is not toxic and the employees are happy. There is no forced ranking or pds system. I tolerated 8 years at this he-l hole and cannot take one more day at it.

I’m very satisfied with the outcome, especially seeing some leadership changes within DVN. Unfortunately, certain individuals were placed in leadership roles they were not prepared for. In Lea County specifically, the superintendent J.C has consistently shown poor judgment, an inability to make independent decisions, and a pattern of advancing personal relationships rather than merit. Like J.M

Moving forward, we need reliable, decisive leaders who can take ownership, make tough calls, and lead teams effectively, not individuals who rely on favoritism or avoidance.

Washington state hiring managers are all corrupt. The majority of Washington state jobs that are announced first get offered to current "well connected" state employee's family members and close friends. You may be contacted and asked to do an interview, in which you think you got a chance at the job, but you don't. You are really being used as a suc_ker to meet the minimum number of interviews the State hiring manager is required to do. It's still a waste of your time unless you are connected, because the Washington state hiring managers have already chosen a family member or close friend and quietly offered the job to them before they even contact you asking you do an interview. So, consider all Washington state jobs posted as a sham and don't waste your time applying.

Found this interesting Reddit thread for yesterday.

https://www.reddit.com/r/IBM/comments/1qot69r/workplace_politics/

Gave me much relief I am not the only one feeling and experiencing this at IBM. I attend the Albany Research center in New York and the location is entirely run on politics. Nepotism, cronyism and favoritism rule the site. It’s run by a small group that has been in charge since the beginning. Merit and hard work and accomplishments mean little here what matters most is if you are one the favorites. It seems the locations intended is for personal gain of small group and their acolytes and not for semiconductors.

To survive or to have a job you need to be the favorite's person under management compared to other associates even though other associates works more it won’t be the enough as long as their favorite person works they elevate but they doesn’t know how that person finished the work.
This is in GBD very first team in ..

Quick observations from colleagues across Fidelity sites:

Heavy reliance on personal networks for hiring (often relatives/friends from India via H-1B/transfers) → opportunities stay within tight groups.
Frequent non-English communication (Hindi, Telugu, Tamil) in teams → harder for others to participate fully.
Some regional cliques/tensions (North vs. South Indian) → minor friction in team dynamics.
Manager concentration in NC (Raleigh-Durham) and Boston → Westlake (TX) employees feel work gets less recognition, with favoritism toward co-located East teams (“out of sight, out of mind”).
A few ex-Infosys/TCS folks bring limited knowledge-sharing habits → siloed work, reduced collaboration, and poorer team culture in affected groups.

Anyone seeing similar patterns in Westlake, NC, Boston, or elsewhere? Share anonymously below—helps gauge if it's widespread or team-specific.

Supposedly some former and current managers in North Carolina have spilled the beans on the best of belk awards which usually transpires in March or April. Of course the specific qualifications for the award are still unclear to most associates, and it appears the awards are based on politics and favoritism, which is illegal and can be construed as workplace discrimination. Of course Belk corporate claimed the awards were no different than ‘employee of the month’ but some claim that extra discounts, gratis and other small perks that are given only to select associates are discriminatory and possibly illegal.

There has been blatant favouritism going on since past two years within our team.

This manager has been dangling the carrot right in front of me in the name of opportunities, yet has never recognized me for my efforts.

All while pushing this pet on my a$$ to "learn my tasks"

What's that supposed to mean for me?

Targeting the level 15 was long overdue. Most of them were promoted due to favoritism and not talented and do not contribute anything significant over a level 13.

Many of the grade 15 I knew were given LoP out of favoritism, failed many deliverables and instead of being put on PIP, was covered by their manager pulling corporate politics. The 15 were getting paid more than midpoint.

The majority of 15 in TOS are a serious waste of the department budget and I approve of them getting laid off and they won't be missed.

There’s a particular flavor of workplace dysfunction that thrives in Chicago offices, and it’s the kind everyone pretends isn’t racist, s-xist or classist because they call it “fit” and “professionalism.” But we see it. Who gets promoted. Who gets visibility. Who gets coached. Who gets written up for the same thing someone else gets praised for. HR isn’t confused; they’re complicit! The end! IF you dare say something about the disparities—how certain faces always rise and certain others always plateau—you get the corporate sermon about “opportunities for development” or “taking initiative,” as if the issue is your work ethic and not the rigged ladder. Meanwhile the pay here is an insult with direct deposit. They tell us morale matters, they tell us culture is important, and they host a lunch once a year to prove it. But when people burn out, get vocal, or simply ask for livable raises, suddenly the budget evaporates. Funny how it returns every time a favorite gets bumped up a level.
The worst part is they know morale is low. They’ve known. They’ve done surveys, held town halls, launched committees, ordered branded mugs and stress ba--s. The answer is not a mystery. People are tired of being underpaid, undervalued, and watched like suspects while the chosen few glide. And don’t come at me with the classic “If you don’t like it, leave.” Leave to where? They are all hiring at the same salary and running the same playbook? The whole ecosystem is built on keeping people grateful for scraps while pretending the problem is our attitude. We shouldn’t have to contort ourselves into silence or gratitude to survive a job. We shouldn’t be expected to normalize racism dressed up as “professional readiness” or favoritism dressed up as “high potential.” We shouldn’t be made to feel disposable while being told culture is everything.
Morale doesn’t matter here!!!! People matter here only when they’re useful and only when they look like the archetype leadership already decided on. And I’m tired of the lie that this is just how corporate life works. It doesn’t have to be. They just choose it.

I work here and I have been watching the same issues cycle over and over again.
morale keeps dropping people keep leaving and leadership keeps acting suprised!!!
so here is some advice from the floor take it or ignore it...

Nothing else matters if frontline managers are bad, you can roll out new programs every quarter and none of it sticks.\

Train managers how to lead people not just how to chase numbers.
Standardize expectations what does good leadership actually look like here how do you evalute people how do promotions work!?

If a manager has constant complaints about favoritism or micromanaging stop protecting them..

Retrain them or move them out!!!

Judge managers on retention engagement and team health not just output...

a lot of frustration comes from not knowing what job we are actually doing day to day.
Define roles clearly what is in scope what is not especially for territory and service roles.
Pay and bonuses need to match the real workload including on call time...

Stop combining two or three jobs into one role without premium pay, that is not efficiency that is explotation!?

Sales and service being mashed together is burning people out fast!!!

career growth right now feels like something people whisper about in meetings.
Publish clear promotion criteria by role and time in seat.
Ki-l relationship based advancement everyone sees it even if leadership pretends they dont...

Address age bias instead of pretending it does not exist.
If you push development programs tie them to actual promotions training that goes nowhere is just busywork..

Corporate training does not match field reality fix that.
Policies should apply the same everywhere unless there is a legal reason they cant.
Working hour rules should be simple clear and enforced not flexible only when it helps the company...

HR should be accesible to frontline employees not just managers!!!

If someone is on call pay them fairly or reduce expectations.
Remote work should be allowed where the job allows it if the work gets done stop micromanaging.
Targets need to reflect actual staffing levels not imaginary ones...

Not everything is an emergency the constant fire drill culture is exhausting!!!

has anyone noticed that new hires are suddenly 'buddy-buddy'' with managers and hr and they were just hired less than a month ago? is anyone else noticing this in their store?

MST home dispatch tech use and abuse company assets. They drive 100K-200K bucket trucks to their home and back to their home garage everyday. Big V8 6.3 L engines use a lot of gas and insurance on top. Also, with MST high pay and only have .5 job per tech a day per tech how is that saving company money and liability.
There are rules to follow when joining home dispatch program. Following the rules helps save gas and time and wear and tear on a vehicle used to drive to work and to home. But MSTs abuse this program from driving to the garage every day and dispatching at the garage. Making a stop at the grocery store to grocery shop in the company vehicle before driving home. Not closing your last job at the job site and instead, drive home and being still dispatched on your work ticket and then closing the job when you arrive home. I follow the rules, and I do not want the home dispatch program to go away because of MSTs taking advantage of the abuse. Also, MST managers are favoring many MSTs and letting the home dispatch MSTs do what ever they want. STOP ABUSING THE HOME DISPATCH PROGRAM YOU MSTs. You know who you are...

When will software engineering managers especially in multi-family finally be let go? Fannie can survive without them, and may even thrive. Too many managers lack technical expertise and real credibility. It’s hard to understand how they were hired in the first place? Instead of leading, they create toxic work environments, master office politics and bureaucracy to confuse hardworking engineers, and show blatant favoritism toward their loyalists. Their contributions rarely go beyond empty buzzwords. They constantly talk about AI, yet demonstrate little real to no understanding of it.
Why does Fannie need these hypocrites?

Capital Management Employees are vastly overpaid $$$ compared to almost every other division in the company+

out of the 35+ people, almost all are EVPs, SVPs, or VPs+Raking in $250K-$400K per year or much more+All the extra employee comp & bonus money is being funneled over to Capital Management+They get quarterly bonuses unlike other employees in the company+That is not fair+Their jobs are easy with them relying on AI computer stock picks as they mimic those recommendations along with the analysts+It's time to rein in this area+Company could save $10M w/o Capital Management+Company would make more $$$ by having better performing outside funds with lower expense ratios but tacking on additional fees to drive revenue++too much bloat w/ Capital Management++Hardly anyone is investing in their institutional funds outside of retirement plans & they have spent a ton to get on various platforms+Assets are down over $1B YOY which is 7% of portfolio+Meanwhile, there are no layoffs & employees of that division keep getting new titles and big big salaries and raises.

this year, the vast majority of the funds are near the bottom of their peer rankings & only three funds are in the top 50%. So, 3 funds out of 28--off to a very rocky start in 2026--looks like it will be a down yr+time to cut salaries, perks, & jobs in that division+lots of favoritism going on there--------

Lipper awards were excellent but company couldn't find a way to get news out & more plans & money keeps leaving. WTF is going on ?

$$$$$
Morningstar
Total Return Rank in Category
YTD (1 is best & 100 is worst)
MoA Core Bond Fund 98
MoA Clear Passage 2020 97
MoA Retirement Income 94
MoA Clear Passage 2045 92
MoA Clear Passage 2050 92
MoA Small Cap Growth Fund 92
MoA Clear Passage 2055 91
MoA Clear Passage 2060 91
MoA Clear Passage 2035 91
MoA Clear Passage 2025 89
MoA Clear Passage 2040 86
MoA Clear Passage 2065 85
MoA International 84
MoA Clear Passage 2030 83
MoA Mid Cap Growth Fund 81
MoA Conservative Allocatio.. 76
MoA Small Cap Equity Indx 76
MoA Clear Passage 2070 71

CVS culture is extremely toxic. I left my job last month! There is nothing but corruption, favoritism and cover ups. I love how some employees can end up on performance plans and then moved to different roles to protect their friends, but others if they’re not friends with the manager are scrutinized and micromanaged! If you’re still working at CVS I pray you find something new very soon.

Finally get rid of leadership that practices favoritism, over buys when we don't have the sales (expects tms in prep rooms to salvage the rotten product) , they believe their far superior to everyone else on the planet.

People getting title promotions after being here 6 months. Many others that are dedicated people that have been here for decades and never getting a title promotion. Favorites and cronies get these promotions.

Is this really happening? Not that I don't think this leadership is capable of it, I just never witnessed it myself.