#hr

First I'll say that I genuinely enjoyed my small team at AT&T with whom I worked the last 20 years of my career there. I have no resentment to the time I spent there, so this isn't a complaining post, just some perspective after some time away. I was in management, doing technical work and app development for sales support.

Most of my team, about 80%, was laid off for not moving to Dallas (most of the rest were already there; one or two moved there). We were in various focus cities supporting our local sales teams, but the senior leadership didn't understand that and did not make exceptions. I found another position doing similar work for another company and started 3 weeks after my final day at T. The new company has fewer than 1000 people, for comparison.

So here are some of my takeaways, in case someone with a long career at AT&T might be thinking about making the jump, or who might have it forced on them.

1. Surprising that this is the first one, but honestly it's such a difference that I wanted to call it out: I have not opened Powerpoint once since I left T. At T, powerpoint was basically the language of business. We wasted so many cycles "making a deck" to try to communicate to the ever-changing field of senior leadership that I probably spent the plurality of my time in Powerpoint vs. any other program. I got a new laptop at my new job, and realized as I deleted the pre-placed icon from the desktop that I've never once used Powerpoint. We use Teams, sometimes demos, sometimes a mockup or diagram...but I've never had to "make a deck."

2. It really hit me just how many people at AT&T did literally nothing of value. This is not a dig against most colleagues, but rather just that significant subset who didn't have discernible skills, so got placed into positions to just spin their bureaucratic wheels but otherwise stay out of the way. I recall two dozen names off the top of my head that were just there to make people jump through hoops, document workflow (for no followup reason), design a new process that was jettisoned as soon as they moved somewhere else, or just attend meetings and throw in their two cents without really contributing. Outside of T, there are people of various skill and contribution levels, but nobody whose job is simply to fly under the radar. When I read stories about T employees logging in and leaving their laptops in lockers, or sitting in the cafeteria watching TV, it makes me glad to know that where I'm at now, everybody is giving a fair day's work without making work for others.

3. Leadership at AT&T is toxic. I'm not just talking the Stankey/Stephenson types, who, yes, have ruined the company through unfathomable incompetence. I'm talking the people in the mid-level, director-like positions and above. Almost all (not all) of them at T seemed like they got there based on the Peter Principle or otherwise nodded their head enough. Only in the beginning of my career in the late 1990s did I feel any executive director or above at T (SBC at the time) was there due to being a practitioner of their craft, for being respected, or for being a good manager. And that class began to dwindle as time went on, replaced by hollow, empty suits who could spew buzzwords and claim empty victories by cherry picking their numbers. It's like an ever-shifting field of grifters.

4. The hiring process at ATT is irreparably broken. I was a hiring manager, and trying to get someone competent in the door was inexplicably difficult. HR gatekept candidates and had no concept of the hard and soft skills we needed. We got sent batches of candidates who faked their resumes, faked their interviews (even before AI was big), faked their legal ability to work in the U.S., and so on. There were times that it took 9 months to find an entry level programmer because HR kept whiffing. HR gets a lot of flack everywhere, but at T, I believed they were truly a cesspool of rejects.

Maybe I'll think of more but these hit me just this week. There are things I miss about T, mostly dealing with colleagues, but these are definitely things I do not miss! The day-to-day stress and friction they cause isn't always evident when you're in the middle of it. Only after the ATT shackles are thrown off do you realize how bad of an environment it can be!

HR was actually too nervous to post the numbers for those regions. Honestly, I don't want to waste my time on it. Plus, if I did take it, my responses would just look like an outlier anyway.

I am actually floored by this guy. I’ve seen some toxic stuff in my career, but this is next-level. He’s been here a year and honestly thinks he’s a deity, the way he talks down to the Indian team is straight-up disgusting, like they’re beneath him, question nothing. His emails read like they’re coming off a stone tablet from God. He makes endless snide comments on calls to belittle people. I would contact HR about this, but from what i've seen they find a way to fire you if you raise this stuff. I'm looking as well, its not worth the health problems.

Can my manager lay me off just because he's doesn't like me? He cannot make a case of bad performance because I literally get praises And thank yous everywhere from all the other stakeholders. I am IC. Can he fire my me or somehow influence the HR or management to include me in the next RIF? Are there any guardrails to protect teammbers from toxic insecure managers?

I see so many job positions open for only 2 days or less than a week. Are those genuine openings. I was told by a friend in HR that those positions are there just for formality. Managers have already made up their mind as to who to promote but they have to post the job for HR purposes. Any insights?

Is there a way to report an issue to HR anonymously?

Read up on the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act so you know how to respond when you have that "shoulder tap" meeting with HR.

More information will be shared via emails regarding Project Fuji which is actually a continuation of Project Mongoose but with a different name. Lots of discussions between HR and the Betriebsrat this time and the HR definitely won.

The works council just approved the layoff of 8000 of 14000 jobs that Christian Klein and Dominic Asam wanted. This will happen gradually and all hiring managers are supposed to give preference to internal candidates first. Anyone who has been found to not use AI in the last many months or isn't deemed AI ready will have to undergo compulsory training or face layoffs. They are going to add more sections in Performance Management and force all employees to have an AI related goal. Managers make the final decision on whether employees are AI ready or not and this will impact the HOW and WHAT scores.

But this is devastating news nonetheless. I can't wait for my non-technical development manager to tell me that I am not burning enough AI tokens on something frivolous. She uses them all the time to create presentation graphics and vibe coding and none of that is actually creating any value for SAP customers. But she's an AI star now and actually "coaches" developers on how to use AI in day-to-day life.There are also discussions ongoing with the supervisory board to increase share buybacks and the dividend in the upcoming quarter. HR wants to use "any money saved through layoffs and performance management" to be used towards this.SAP is on track to become one of the worst companies to work for.

I got displaced this morning and feeling bad for myself as I have always given 110%. While trying to get additional info from “HR” and trying to communicate with a rep in the philllipines who (besides barely speaking English) didn’t show any empathy or compassion for the companies own employees, THAT was the solidification I needed to say a big F U C K Y O U to this company who treats their American employees like trash, especially when you need them the most. This job loss might be the best thing to have happened to me.

Hybrid work should be evaluated on outcomes and deliverables, not solely on days in office or commute distance. If managers are meeting their commitments and supporting their teams effectively, a 2-day in-office cadence can be reasonable under current policy. Where concerns exist, they’re best addressed through documented feedback via HR or leadership channels, rather than informal assumptions. Let’s keep the focus on accountability and results for everyone, at every level.

How seriously does Medtronic HR or ethics dept take these, and are they ultimately just gonna protect management and sweep things under the rug or what? Is it worth making a good faith complaint!

Just got layoff. Remote, but HR said it is not because I was. remote.

Is it normal that your PL calls you while on short term disability from work and asks multiple questions about my health and how I'm coming along and what my thoughts are about coming back to work. I don't like to stir things but the calls and texts I've gotten from my PL while on short term make me feel very uncomfortable.

Any one seen the trend ?

https://courtindex.sdcourt.ca.gov/CISPublic/casedetail?casenum=26CU024888C&casesite=SD&applcode=C

https://www.makaremlaw.com/blog/2026/06/illumina-press-release/

We were told a completely different story about a leadership exit in Finance. Total lack of transparency. Shameful

Let’s face it, without poor leadership here, they wouldn’t be:
} Ridiculous amount of offshoring
} Incompetent leadership, whether onshore or offshore
} People with H1B in Sr Mgmnt roles, bullying and laying off US Citizens

Without the psychopaths in Legal, HR and Leadership roles,
There wouldn’t be:
} Millions spent on nonsense while laying people off on a monthly basis
} Disgusting layoff packages that highly contradict what they put on Sparq
} Terrible unchecked, toxic acquisitions like OI Change Healthcare
} Bullying, harassment and intimidation of employees, former employees and providers who speak up. People are now taking to the media because if this! SAD!!!!
} Protection of several, possibly all bullies in leadership roles.

The UK Works Council is only there to give a veneer of respectability to whatever DXC HR choose to do. There is no accountability. They never push back strongly just approve as they are asked to do like good pets. Try talking to them and they just say there is nothing they can do.

What they should do in all conscience is resign from the works council so HR can't say "this was approved by the works council".

I've seen ten posts today and they all ended the same way with even the same emojis used a bullet points. Odd they all have the exact same format.

Example below.

About me & what I’m looking for:
💼 I’m looking for Account Representative, Account Manager, Account Executive, Account Specialist, and Key Account Manager roles.
🌎 I’m open to roles in Glenview, Chicago and the surrounding area.
⭐ I’ve previously worked at CDW as an Account Manager and as an AWS Business Development Manager

The People Office Support Centre is a perfect example of technology replacing service without improving the employee experience.

Tickets get passed between multiple people, questions go unanswered, and then the ticket is closed. I recently waited 30 days for a response to a benefits and retirement query and still did not get an answer.

We used to have local contacts you could call or meet with to resolve issues. Now we’re expected to search AI articles, raise a ticket, and wait in silence. It’s “computer says no” dressed up as transformation.

If this is part of Bob’s AI strategy, it isn’t working. AI should support people, not replace them. Bring back accessible human HR support that takes ownership and actually helps employees.

I see some notes here saying hot line is not HR. A few years ago, I called the company hotline to report an unethical practice. I left a message, and the next morning someone called me back saying they were from Exxon HR. They told me they needed evidence related to the incident. I explained that I used the hotline because I thought it was anonymous and I didn’t want retaliation. Of course, they had my phone number and could match it to my profile easily. A few weeks later, our department head pulled me aside and said, “Focus on your work, I’ll take care of the incident you raised concerns about.” Neither HR nor I followed up after that.

I'm planning to switch jobs soon anyway, but a big reason is that as more of my team has been moved offshore, working with my newer teammates has become a lot more frustrating. The newer male hires in particular constantly interrupt me during calls, second-guess what I say, question my judgment, and never apologize even when they end up being wrong. It's gotten so bad that the people on other teams that I regularly work with on these calls have noticed and started asking me what's going on. I see the same behavior directed at our new female offshore hires, but they're much more timid and less likely to call out bad behavior like I have so they get it worse than I have. One of them keeps getting backlogged tasks pushed onto her from another male employee who keeps saying he's "delayed" on his simple debug task that he's been working on for two sprints now.

My manager was recently replaced with an offshore manager too. They said they'd talk to the new hires because they've also been on a lot of these same calls and have seen what I've brought up during our one on one meetings, but nothing has changed, quite frankly.

For about the last month I've been documenting these incidents and talking with an HR representative after submitting a ticket. So far I've mostly been told to work through my management chain or try resolving things directly with the people involved. HR has suggested it might just be cultural differences that I need to navigate. I don't think "cultural differences" explain people repeatedly dismissing my work or questioning my judgment when I've been on this project for much longer than they have. It also doesn't explain the general disrespect. I also don't think management would be very receptive to the idea that the culture of their own employees is contributing to s-xist behavior. At this point, I'm kind of fed up but already planning on leaving anyways. I was just curious to see if anyone else regardless of gender has been brushed off by HR or management regarding navigating these "cultural differences" which is being used an excuse to ignore horrible work practices by offshore since I can't imagine that's good for the long term of this company.

Typical Citi, their FAQ to fired employees says you still have to receive trade preclearance while on Garden leave. But when you call compliance they have no idea how to preclear you because you're no longer in the system and HR just sends an auto reply that they'll get back to you at their convenience .....

So, if I sell stocks am I going to lose my Severance because Citi is too incompetent to put proper procedures in place to pre-clear those in let go?

I'm so glad I was let go. It's like I was in a bad relationship but needed to be broken up with. I just can't wait to be done with this place.

Our store manager has her favorite minions
Calling them “sweetie”, “baby” “honey” and talking to them like they are her own children——-weird

Store H.R. literally drinks coffee all day, every day. And gossips with her clique.
When someone who is not in the clique walks near them, it suddenly gets quiet.

Support team is a clique. Same thing when you get closer to them in the hallway or office it suddenly gets quiet

Store manager MAYBE working 35 hours a week, and usually closer to 33, 9-4 Monday to Friday, lots of PTO and time off.

HR works 7-2, or 8-3, and never works Saturday or Sunday. Never.Gives little to no information or help, never correctes missing punch, delayed in responding to schedule changes or issues

Town hall tomm. HR included on the call. People and culture is one of the topics. LMAO. These posts must have reached HR, and finally some action? Ok let's see what new BS they spew out

What is going on with employee directory? I use that thing all the time and they're taking things out of it. I use it a lot to look up assignee groups of people. Now I have to go through a bunch of extra hoops.

And they wonder why they score low on the technology tools to do my job item on the survey.

Is this another example of the clownshow Dil ip or clownshow HR

I have been moved around to multiple teams since COVID (same job title and same pay, though). It appears our team will probably be laid off by this next Tuesday after payday as the work we did is being handled by original team that should have been working the cases anyway., but my question is, has anyone had success convincing HR to let you go back to your previous team vs. being displaced? I mean, it’s not my fault I am on the team that I am on. I was just flexible and adaptable but I would really like to go back to one of my previous teams rather than being laid off.

I see HR are flooding Glassdoor with fake 5 star reviews. This seems to be a regular pattern, if there are a few negative reviews, usually complaining about a toxic culture and useless management, then HR kick into action in order to try and preserve the ratings and continue trying to con people that this is a great place to work.

I find it suspicious that payroll was “down” yesterday and that we should see pay in employee accounts by Friday evening! Again, how is the leadership of IT and HR still have their jobs! I believe the chaos is intentional! I bet tomorrow, everyone doesn’t see a paycheck! On par for the seperation on Monday.. Migration Dirty tricks😑

I feel like y’all were issued a gag order… ‘cause not one of y’all have popped up on here… HOW MANY EMPLOYEES DO WE CURRENTLY HAVE?

actually IT… how many Shared Inboxes are there? ‘cause I’m about to look in Teams and do some math.

are people who are “External” included in the employee count?

I joined Tech going on a year now, and I have been working to improve accountability and address long-standing performance issues. Not to be punitive, but because it’s better to deal with low performance directly than end up laying off good employees later.

My biggest frustration has been HR and specifically, employee relations supporting Tech. It’s hard to get a clear answer on what action to take, harder to get a response, and when you do, the guidance often contradicts what leaders in other departments are being told.

I know they’re under pressure too, and I’ve tried to give them the benefit of the doubt. But when managers can’t get consistent support, it makes leading my teams a lot harder. At some point, that becomes an HR leadership issue. I hope their senior leadership is paying attention.

Former Xbox employees warn of potential for retaliation in rumored impending layoffs

Ahead of rumored layoffs at Microsoft-owned Xbox, former employees are warning of potential for retaliation.
They base this claim on their own experiences being ousted by the company under potentially retaliatory circumstances.
They urge current employees to document their experiences at the company and contact their HR partners.

https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/former-xbox-employees-warn-of-potential-for-retaliation-in-rumored-impending-layoffs

All the job titles are messed up. Do we know when they will update them?

It is my understanding that all severance pay will be taxed similarly to annual bonuses (around 22% federal + state/ss/medicare, totaling somewhere around 35-45% in NY). Are there circumstances where employees can opt to reduce the amount of taxes taken up front? Can anyone speak to this? Any HR reps in here?

Has anyone received their actual money from the severance for all of us who were laid off as of 6/5? Because don’t bother calling HR. They flatly refuse to speak with you. At all.

Is there somewhere I can check?

Hi,
I left Juniper last year before the transaction was closed and moved to different city. I provided HR with my new address but never received any information post mail or email regarding 401k liquidification. I logged into my fidelity account to find $0 balance. Fidelity wasn’t able to provide any information regarding this and gave me phone number to contact which bins to inspira financial. It’s been 2 weeks I have been contacting them but they also don’t have any of my account information.
Can someone help with who I can reach out in HPE to find out the status of my 401k.

I still haven’t been assigned the "Advisor" role but maybe EM HR could take a break from whatever it is they think they’re doing and actually focus on the mountain of harassment, as--ult, and misconduct complaints piling up every single day. Or, bare minimum, learn how to handle onboarding/offboarding without turning it into a circus. It’s honestly embarrassing at this point.
Meanwhile, you all seem to have endless time to post and comment nonsense on this site. As if paying your little pets to flood Glassdoor and Indeed with glowing fairy tales wasn’t enough, now you’re suddenly uncomfortable when people start revealing the dark truth and exposing dangerous individuals (initials, names… the whole thing).

HR call Monday with my manager.

Hi,
I left Juniper last year before the transaction was closed and moved to different city. I provided HR with my new address but never received any information post mail or email regarding 401k liquidification. I logged into my fidelity account to find $0 balance. Fidelity wasn’t able to provide any information regarding this and gave me phone number to contact which bins to inspira financial. It’s been 2 weeks I have been contacting them but they also don’t have any of my account information.
Can someone help with who I can reach out in HPE to find out the status of my 401k. Thanks!