#fear

Apparently, the answer to unhappy employees is to make their lives even more miserable. Keep pushing people until nobody wants to work here, then blame them for having no motivation.

There's a lot of tension here because people never know whether speaking up or making a mistake will come back to hurt them. Meanwhile, certain employees seem to get away with things others are punished for. It's difficult to trust management when the rules don't appear to apply equally. I don't know how anyone expects people to do their best work under those conditions.

Record profits. Billions in buybacks. Wall Street applause.
And on the ground? A culture running entirely on fear, silence, and institutional burnout.

Question a flawed strategic decision, push back on an impossible deadline, or bring real operational truth to the table, and you are immediately marked as a problem. Upward mobility isn’t tied to engineering rigor or delivery; it’s reserved for yes-men and political preservation.

The Leadership Disconnect: Middle managers and Directors have virtually zero autonomy—they exist merely to absorb blowback from the top and pass down unreasonable demands. Meanwhile, executive layers operate with zero accountability, handing down aggressive mandates and public criticism while remaining completely insulated from the ground reality.

HR Is Not Your Ally: Don't let the glossy "culture of care" slides fool you. Going to HR with a genuine grievance doesn't solve the issue—it puts a spotlight on you as an inconvenience to be managed out. The unspoken rule is clear: keep your head down and stay silent.

Human Cost of Record Margins: When restructuring hits, loyalty means nothing. Thousands of people who sacrificed weekends and gave years of their lives to keep legacy platforms alive are cut loose with the bare legal minimum severance—all so executive bonuses stay padded and margin targets look pristine on paper.

The outside sees a global payments powerhouse. The inside is an engine running on intimidation, fear, anxiety, and disposable talent. From Vira, all the way to Yanilsa, Luba and other SVPS, the work is exhausting, it’s demoralizing, and people deserve to know the reality before walking through those doors. these are the most toxic people I've ever worked with.

I honestly believe that the AI bubble is guaranteed to burst in the next year or two, so our increased reliance on and investment in AI is incredibly scary to me. We'll be the ones to pay when the chickens come home to roost, not the people at the top who made all the decisions. That's always the case.

I started two weeks ago. Is there a chance I could still be laid off?

I’ve been doing this a long time and have never experienced a company like PANW. The fear of NA and the toxicity that he creates and demands in the culture is unbelievable (but true). No one will stand up to him or share a different opinion, no one challenges him, no one offers new ideas. So this permeates down to how the rest of leadership treats all of their orgs. No room for individual thought or new ideas. It’s all about the firewall and insisting everything is ok to be in the cloud. Customers know better and PANW is not important to any customer or strategic partner. PANW is a widget at best now and an afterthought - not a strategic alliance. NAs whole strategy is to take advantage of the AI fears and breaches and customers aren’t buying that PANW is the right answer. Can’t even get meetings much less revenue. They’re actively reducing their footprint after being taken advantage of for many years and PANW refuses to accept their role in this and right the ship. They blame sales teams, engineering, services and support and demand we give over our own likeness and image to AI for mandatory ‘trainings’, and refuse to listen to customers when feedback is provided on what they need from partnership or product innovation. Leadership brags about working all the time and demanding their people are available on vacation or during times of personal loss. Oh. And try to find true diversity in leadership. I’ll wait….

There is a big push to complete a skills assessment. The last time this was requested, layoffs were announced about 2 months later. Constantly being in fear for your job is exhausting.

Isn't that sad? The second quarter saw highest revenue in four years, and it means nothing for us. We had cuts since then and we still have to worry about cuts on a daily basis. Whatever happens, we never come out on top.

Anyone with updates on AML and Fraud? Will there be another round of layoffs? Everyone is scared and most people are looking elsewhere.

People think this is new but it's not. I've worked here long enough to know that intimidation isn't some recent management trend. The constant warnings about termination and performance plans have been happening for at least the last decade, if not longer. We're just finally starting to talk about it openly.

Prime Day starts today and normally I’d probably stock up on some work clothes, grab a few Christmas presents, etc. This year? Not happening.

With all the rumors flying around Comcast and just enough information leaking out to make everyone nervous, I’m basically avoiding any unnecessary spending until I know if I still have a job in a few weeks.

And I know Comcast is far from the only company where people are feeling this way.

It does make you wonder about the ripple effect. Layoffs or fear of layoffs → people stop spending → companies make less money → more cuts.

What a great economy.

Of course I get sick on day 2 of RTO. I don't care anymore I'm WFH like you should. None of this stupid pressure and fear of losing my bonus. If they are threatening to take it away its probably already gone.

With their ultimate goal to push people out, specially those who have been with the company for a long time, they are hoping to avoid having to pay out packages. This is now known as a fact.

It also is now clear that management is now scrambling to keep control and also to hide their books and revenue lost, and give false hopes of there being a potential buyer who is ready to buy the company and "rescue" our decline. This false pretense is also being exposed beyond any doubt.

Many of us spent who were passionate about what we did are now operating out of fear... fear of being ambushed, fear of being FIRED or put on the spot. Being humiliated because we under-performed in the last month or now being spied on by an AI agent which listens to our conversation in a zoom call or the content of our email exchange. It is clear that those who come up with these ideas or push to implement them are completely unaware of how human productivity works. You can not have human beings operate at a productive mental capacity or creativity when they are in a constant state of fear and panic, this is a proven fact that anyone with minimal knowledge of human psychological behavior would know. This is simple and effective proof that this company is being run by incompetent "leaders" and managed by unskilled "managers" who only believe in the power of the iron fist.

To the remaining customers: Before you buy into the "pitch" that you are receiving from your friendly Omnissa sales team, take a few minutes and read the comments that the employees and ex-employees have left here about what it is like to work in this place. If this is how the company treats its loyal employees, rest assured they will not hesitate to treat their customers the same.

September 14th is meant to be catostrophic. Good luck all.

Hold your loved ones close. I know I will be holding

Just remember this is a reminder for you to get on your knees to your RIF overlords and thank them for the job you still have and a reminder what an absence of a job feels like. More psychological fear mongering wrapped up as "FIS Gives". Crickets all over the company, no real plans, no roadmaps, no clear direction. More RIFS to come, stay tuned.

Laid off in March from the bank, and I still can’t find work. Funny thing is I see them rehiring for a position I had but I’m not in a hub market. I was less expensive than people they kept on board, so why the he-l lay me off? I was a good worker. Now I’m afraid I’m about to lose everything. To the snakes who put this in motion for me and for so many others, remember the pain you cause others always comes back to you. Evil. This company and its management are pure evil.

and speculating going on here. It’s really difficult to parse through the static.
Companies can fire anyone anytime in Massachusetts we are an At Will state.
I think that should be our collected focus to get our reps legislatures to maybe fix that and give us all some security.
We shouldn’t worry about being fired because we cannot make it into the office and need to work from home.
That promotes fear and hostility and negativity.
Let’s do what we can to fix being AT Will and this at the mercy of our employers.
Insubordination along with professionalism aside we need to have some security.

We received new sales ISG targets. Country in eu. The increase is over 300% from last relevant H. Plus nobody has even close to 100% in the pipeline. Myself only had 20%. Which means the best I can hope for is only 20%.
Motivation has dropped to absolute 0. But I suspect this is planned. Make us leave so they won’t have to pay wfr. Dont even know what to, its fighting the big machine with no transparency, Dell is ruled by fear, nobody speaks up because of fear.

How is everyone feeling? I’m petrified but also ready to end this fear of something always lurking around the corner. I know there will be more layoffs to come, that’s a definite, and at least we won’t worry on that anymore but I have so much more to worry about also. Godspeed to everyone, best of luck in your journey.

Bankrupt with in a year , don't let this fail company give tunnel vision
Reinvent your self, get a better job,start a small business is a whole world out there with a better life .
Is time to fly and you know it.
Fear nothing!!
P.S. fudge flu shorts what a scam

I was trying to click on Elevance Health because they, along with other of Centene’s competitors, seem to be going through almost exactly same challenges Centene is.

Well, I accidentally clicked on Emblem Health, instead of Elevance, and their last post thread entries were from 2016 and they were saying and complaining about the very exact same thing as us…about the offshoring to India and Philippines, about the CEO laying people off to raise stock price and to line executive’s pockets, etc., etc. etc. It was like looking in a mirror and we are talking back 10 years ago.

The last post entries on the Emblem Health Layoff site ended after 2016 so I can only think the company went under.

Anyway, scary stuff!

I was trying to click on Elevance Health because they, along with other of Cigna’s competitors, seem to be going through almost exactly same challenges Cigna is.

Well, I accidentally clicked on Emblem Health, instead of Elevance, and their last post thread entries were from 2016 and they were saying and complaining about the very exact same thing as us…about the offshoring to India and Philippines, about the CEO laying people off to raise stock price and to line executive’s pockets, etc., etc. etc. It was like looking in a mirror and we are talking back 10 years ago.

The last post entries on the Emblem Health Layoff site ended after 2016 so I can only think the company went under.

Anyway, scary stuff!

I accidentally clicked on Emblem Health, instead of Elevance, and their last post thread entries were from 2016 and they were saying and complaining about the very exact same thing as us…about the offshoring to India and Philippines, about the CEO laying people off to raise stock price and to line executive’s pockets, etc., etc. etc. It was like looking in a mirror and we are talking back 10 years ago.

The last post entries on the Emblem Health Layoff site ended after 2016 so I can only think the company went under.

Anyway, scary stuff!

The environment is tainted with toxicity, fear and ugliness, including the behavior and communication from the leaders and colleagues.

Just saw Community Day in the news. Sure don’t miss that multi-hour, small-talk, forced-smile misery. Events like Community Day used to be the norm when Humana was truly part of the community and not wallowing in a culture of fear and retaliation. Glad I no longer have to deal with being volun-told to brand up for the public rah-rah. And I know I’m not alone.

Anyone feeling that all of this new AI agent deployment basically means it’s going to eventually replace all of us at the ground level? That town meeting today was very uncomfortable & felt like they were dancing around that issue.

Whoever runs this page just feeds into the craven fear people seem to love. Most people here sit at their computer and wring their hands itching and panting for the next bit of bad news to show up. Meanwhile, any jokes (e.g., the fake Kate post) get taken down. You all drool with fever waiting for "they got rid of everyone at the Broomfield office, it's empty" and "service delivery is getting rid of anyone with more than two children." Are you sad for yourselves? I know I would be if I lived for misery, real or imagined.

I'm the only one on my team who isn't terrified of losing their job. Everyone else is a robot, keeping their head down, acting submissive, silent, and never pushing back. It's depressing to see.

Fear doesn't motivate. It just empties the building of the people you actually need.

Nike employees below management already know how the system works. The people closest to the work carry the deadlines, solve the problems, document the processes, train the teams, and rescue failing projects. Management controls the narrative. When the work succeeds, leadership takes the visibility. When it fails, an individual contributor takes the blame.

Employees are told to be bold, challenge convention, speak candidly, and bring their full selves to work. But the real rules are very different. Do not challenge the wrong manager. Do not expose incompetence. Do not question favoritism. Do not document too much. Do not become inconvenient. And do not expect HR to protect you from leadership.

At LBJ Innovation, politics can matter more than performance. Personal relationships can matter more than expertise. Loyalty to management can matter more than loyalty to the work. Employees quickly learn that speaking up is only encouraged when what they say is safe, flattering, and easy to ignore. Raise a serious concern and suddenly the conversation becomes about your tone. Document a pattern and you become difficult. Ask for accountability and you become the problem.

The same company that publicly celebrates inclusion can become remarkably efficient at protecting itself when employees raise concerns about discrimination, retaliation, disability, or unequal treatment. That is how fear becomes culture. It does not require everyone to agree. It only requires enough people to understand the consequences of speaking honestly.

Employees watch underperforming managers survive while strong contributors disappear. They watch favoritism get reframed as trust, political loyalty get rewarded as leadership, and self-preservation get dressed up as business judgment. They watch the people doing the actual work treated as replaceable while those managing appearances protect their titles, reputations, and stock awards.

Most employees see it. Few feel safe enough to say it. That silence is not proof that the culture is healthy. It is proof that the consequences are understood.

Nike does not have a shortage of talent. It has a leadership accountability problem. Innovation cannot thrive where employees are afraid to speak. Inclusion cannot exist where vulnerable employees are treated as liabilities. Accountability cannot exist where managers control the story and workers absorb the consequences.

Culture is not what appears in a town hall, an employee survey, or a presentation about values. Culture is what happens when someone tells the truth and leadership decides what to do with them.

The people doing the work already know what the culture is.

They live it every day.

I hate this place so much, and I believe this leadership is capable of anything, including that.

I wasted three years in Nike's fear-based culture that drained everything from me. My new job is far from ideal, but it's still ten times better than Nike. The biggest mistake of my career was joining that place.

I'm stuck in this weird space where I can't bring myself to quit, but I secretly hope they lay me off. It would feel like being released from prison, finally free. I love the actual work, but the environment makes it unbearable. Half of me is terrified of getting cut. The other half is waiting for it.

Why are so many western companies being criticised by people trying to drag down morale? The ones posting hate at Dell: are they ex employees? Or paid to post and destabilise?
I don’t trust this forum anymore. There are real and genuine worries working for Dell and genuine layoff fears are now drowned out by people posting cr-p 3 times a day or more. Fear, lies and deceit. Beware of what you read here.

It feels like most of the people who could get out have gotten out. The ones still here are either too scared, too stuck, or still looking. I admit, I'm in the first group. Anybody still here because they genuinely want to be?

I didn't know you could feel both petrified and relieved at the same time. That's me today. I'm so scared of what'll happen tomorrow, but at the same time, I'm feeling relieved that it'll finally be over, and not a day too soon. A thoroughly strange feeling, I have to admit.

Has anyone else had constant org changes, and it’s not all adding up? As we approach the next layoff round, it’s getting very eerie around here. I’m a bit scared. However, it also doesn’t make sense to do all these org changes only for us to be laid off. I can’t make sense of it.

She walked by and clearly saw the job posting on my screen. When she asked about it, I lied and said I was looking at salary benchmarks for a friend. The look on her face told me she didn't buy it. Can I be fired over this?

it's all about fear now. no respect, no loyalty from mgmt.

and it's about to get even worse.

i'm unsure what to do. it looks like switching industries would probably make the most sense for me.

i'm not affected, but i'd hate to live in perpetual fear of the proverbial axe.

peace out.

Gunjan just said that remote employees are being grandfathered in. Can we please stop the fear mongering now?