#leadership

So maybe I'm dense, but I don't understand leaderships FOMO of AI , these guys are trying to throw AI at every problem, when most of T business models have nothing to do with AI directly, they complain about churn, and think AI is going to find some missing demographic, or want to use AI for lots of internal development, yet we're constrained by regulatory limits that don't play nice with GENERATIVE features of today's models.. Help me understand...

The almighty leader of global tech is spearheading an Amazon Alexa project that is a major waste of time and money.

I’ve been through many, many layoffs in my time in retail (20 years) and just sharing what I’ve learned having been in various roles at various levels including IC and leadership (dir+). I have also had really good friends and partners in HR and ops finance over my career who have been at various levels of need to know (and they share with me of course 😏).
THIS IS NOT INTEL - I do not have any information about TGT. This is more so sharing facts rather than feelings.
Simply put, the fiscal calendar is important when making layoff decisions. Layoffs are planned for the immediate expenses (the severance packages, outplacement programs, health insurance premiums etc) and forecasted long term savings.
You may be asking why Q4, well it’s because this is when most retail companies make their season or year. And because most of the prep work for the season is done and everything is execute mode so it doesn’t have as much impact on the immediate business.
You budget for these layoffs (yes, budget. So a layoff this big has been coming for a while). Once they are reviewed and approved by the board, goal is to get them in before Q4 so you can chip away at the expense drag that the layoff causes through revenue generation. You also want to hit the expenses in the current quarter, especially if quarterly earnings report is going to be rough. You want to minimize the impact to the next quarter.
Then long term the savings reflect in the new fiscal year and helps at a time when sales are generally slower.
In the simplest form you spend now to hopefully recoup some, protect the next quarter, and then save later in the new year.
In terms of WHO is impacted, it’s not an easy exercise and certainly not one taken lightly. I know that’s not easy to hear because it’s much easier to blame the proverbial big bad wolf, but I assure you no one in the general sense wants to be in this position. no one wants mass layoffs. Everyone would love to hire and build out their teams and be offering promotions and bonuses all the time.
Unfortunately, in addition to the sh---y macro financial environment, some poor decision making, some external factors, and some decisions made when the company was thriving (over hiring, overspending or over indexing into certain teams and initiatives) leads to this.
I’m grossly oversimplifying how the company got here but just keeping it simple.
So back to WHO. Well at the highest level (think SVP+) you would receive notice of expense reduction efforts (either a dollar amount or %) and they would look at where to cut and save (travel, discretionary spend etc) and then when there’s no more to save there, you move on to the teams. You look at where the work is currently, where it’s needed, where teams are doing similar work, or maybe work that is no longer value added, and decide where it would make sense to cut folks, where it would make sense to consolidate teams (for example if you have 3 directors with one direct report each, would it make sense to combine a team and create a team of 6 with only one director) or where it makes sense to have both a dir and a sr dir based on complexity, leadership necessity, size of team or where it might make sense to only have one over the other. At the end of the day you just have to do what’s best with the hand you’re dealt while trying to minimize the impact to operations, workload and yes, culture.
Because at the end of the day, there is a day after layoffs and morale of the teams is crucial to how you move forward (it’s kind of ironic but I digress).
I would venture to say with all of this in mind, many leaders have been quietly not backfilling roles, losing jobs through attrition (people quit and role is not rehired) or asking their leaders if there’s any work that could be stopped, moving resources from other teams where support is needed more and away from teams where there is maybe fat to trim in order to prevent or at least mitigate big cuts. But alas, sometimes the only way out is through.
Alright so who knows what, now? VPs probably knew changes were coming, and maybe could influence who and what in a general sense. Based on the posts on here, they just found out officially this week and they probably had to sign strict NDAs.
It’s also possible they walk into Monday or Tuesday and get handed a list of who and what so as to not have anything leak beforehand.
As for the people impacted…
The goal is to do this as fairly as possible.
Is it possible favorites are played when deciding who to keep? Sure.
Is it possible top performers were never at risk of losing their jobs? Sure.
Is it possible bottom performers were an easy first decision? Sure.
Is it possible a leader sees a name on a list and says “absolutely not” and a role is miraculously found for them? Sure.
Is it possible a leader sees someone moving elsewhere and says “hey actually it makes sense for this other person to go over there based on their skill and for this person to stay here”? Sure.
Will someone say “hey I actually want to retire so take me out and save someone else”? Sure.
Is it possible some people know where the bodies are hidden and so they must be protected? Sure. (I’m mostly kidding, but I’ve definitely experienced layoffs where people are asking “how are they still here” and we joke they must have compelling enough black mail to stay lol)
Will some people be promoted if it makes sense to the new org? Sure.
Will some people be demoted if it means that’s the only way they can have a role? Sure.
Is this an opportunity to finally separate someone who is so toxic and has managed to dodge every bullet until now? Sure.
Will people and leaders be moved, lose work or inherit work? Sure.
Is it possible they cut too deep and ask someone to come back? Sure.
Is it possible they didn’t cut deep enough and need to do it again? Sure.
All of this or none of this could happen (in my experience, it’s usually the latter).
At the end of the day it’s going to come down to the work, what makes sense long term for the company, how much it’s going to cost to keep or separate someone and how everyone fits into the larger strategy.
“Good” and “bad” people will go. Just as well as “good” and “bad” people will stay.
We will know eventually what happened in the “post mortem” (aka because we piece it together in here lol).
Anyways, the point of all of this is information however relevant it may be to this situation. Knowledge is power and although it might not give pause to your anxiety, at least you’ll go into the week with some understanding.

Word on the digital street: AI results are flagging Rick Gomez and Jill Sando as “OUT.”

NO official word yet since Fiddelke’s email, but AI whispers are blowing up across threads. If REAL, this could SHAKE Owned Brands, leadership, and strategy to the core.

Some say RUMOR, some say LEAK, some say REALITY. Either way, the chatter won’t die.

Who’s got insider intel, hints, or even half-confirmed whispers? SPILL IT ALREADY — we’re all ears ☕️

my manager are delusionally promoting and spending a project which has no value or use. millions have been spent and there is no use case or demand for it. when i try challenging, they start commenting on my capability and character. when anything fails, which it is bound to in many steps, they say its your fault. can someone please advise how to deal with such a psycho in EM speak? i do want to keep my job, but it ki-ls me inside to hage such a stupid egotistic manager. and fee others around them who just keep promoting an obviously failing, money down the drain project.

Nov 21st - Has anyone heard about some leaders told to keep Nov 21 open for something. I am not sure what...nothing good or just a management meeting? I saw a post here a while back that mentioned it but wondering if there is an update with more information.

Ryan “poorly tailored suits” Lance, CEO of ConocoPhilllips, stated

"We probably plateau later this decade," Lance said. "It's going to be slow decline beyond that, because there's a lot of resource."

What’s your technical perspective or intuition on production declines and soaring OPEX now that Ryan is viewed with contempt by field personnel particularly Marathon and Concho Honchos

I had a meeting with my L8 (as an L5) the week before fiddelke’s email that in hindsight really suggested they knew what was up and were trying to prepare me for it because it sounds a lot like my lead (L7) is getting let go.

Hopefully this is for the best as I have seen first hand that they are laying off people with years of service to keep their family members hired. Human resources really needs to be investigated for hiding the truth with NDA's and not letting people speak.
#NYPCORRUPT #NEPOTISM #DEI #RETALIATION #FAVORITISM #HARRASSMENT

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospital-executive-moves/newyork-presbyterian-ceo-to-step-down-after-14-year-tenure/

If leadership wants increased office presence they need to consider satellite offices. Almost two hour commutes because of Charlotte traffic is taxing. Is it helpful to have people together and stressed out because of the accident they narrowly missed coming in on highways with aggressive drivers? You want people in a facility then build facilities on all sides of Charlotte.

If the decision is already made, then let’s use the next two days to be advisors to our leadership — not bystanders. we are better than the external consulting companies.

Why did Target really fail?
What are the ground-level truths about where our leadership fell short?
Which decisions over the past 3–4 years should have been made differently — or not made at all?

muzza is likely done...who might be next ceo? company value has really not gone up with him running the shoe

Sadly looks like more layoffs coming. Some Procurement and Customer Service roles will be going overseas. Also, more layouts in Sales. Moral is brutal at best and Sr. Leadership has a disconnect with their sales force.

Sounds like many VPs and above have been let go today. Anyone know who that was?

For those that work at Gartner they know that if you are put on a plan for success then that means you are being quietly being shown the door. It’s impossible to complete that formal program under the current economic environment. There is a push from leadership to meet metrics, but how can anyone do that when Gartner consulting has a terrible pipeline at the moment and an even worse one going into 2026. Things will get better but they will get much worse before that. Leadership is sitting on their thrones making impossible demands of staff whilst taking no accountability and providing no support to the people who have dedicated themselves to providing exceptional client work. I wish Gartner would stop pretending that things are great and be transparent and let people know that there are more layoffs to come. So disappointed at the company. They are ruthless.

So the new tech leader has been here over 18 months and still no strategy. Counting keystrokes and butts in seats? Those are tactics you use when you don’t have ideas. Come up with some d-mb stat like “our average productivity score went from 6.7 to 8.3!” Yeah, sure. “We shortened some arbitrary date by three weeks!” If all else fails, talk up AI from the videos you watch. Meanwhile the actual things that need to be done are just kind of floating. I get it that it’s hard to admit when you aren’t up to the job but come on. Just take the golden parachute. Why is it so hard to get a good tech leader at WF?!?

What did you all think of Dave’s town hall yesterday? It was good overall, but still left some areas unclear. It’s interesting that some of the old DPA team members seem to have transitioned into stronger leadership roles instead of being impacted. I’m also not sure what the Tech Venturing and Innovation team actually delivers — based on my experience, they’ve created more disruption than value, yet manage to position their work as impactful. Their approach feels more suited for marketing than for a technology function. I’m surprised Dave is allowing this structure — his org already feels too top-heavy with overlapping roles. Hopefully, they’ll revisit the organization design soon.

This last leadership in action call with JF was pretty comical. They had the usually "woke" testimonials from the usual suspects. Talked about wanting to build a "culture" at State Farm but were also basically bragging about all the people they have run off or in their words this was "not for them". Happy for them that they moved on. LOL! You can tell these are clueless re--rds living in Bloomington that don't fight the traffic, crime, and ghetto workforce that we all have to tolerate. That is the "culture" we have now. JF and his cronies are putzsss! The day this company shuts the doors the better of we the world will be.

What is taking so long???

At what level knew or contributed to the layoff list beforehand? L8? VP? SVP? President?

Who made the call???? Who do you think really made the call on this round: MF, BC, or the board? Or someone else...

If Jamie Dimon thinks that coming to office 5 Days a week is good for all of his employees then you can be sure that his bff Charlie thinks the same way. Maybe that $3 billion dollar tower on Park Avenue was built for Charlie when he takes over his 69 year old mentor’s job soon.

So out of touch.

Before Edward Jones started handing out pink slips and demotions like candy, there was supposed to be a real conversation about pay. Leadership told us they were reviewing pay grades firmwide and that the process would take about a year.

Instead of following through, they turned around and started firing people. Just empty smiles and “tough decisions.” And now everyone seems to have forgotten the original issue. We’re still the lowest paid people in the entire finance sector. That’s the part they don’t talk about in the press releases.

They didn’t fix the pay ranges. They buried it under layoffs, reorgs, and canned speeches about “efficiency.” The truth is simple: this company had a choice between paying its people fairly or protecting its executive bonuses. And they made their choice loud and clear.

How can these people sleep at night?

Resorting to low attacks bc why not, but did we think we’d be safe when the incoming CEO can’t even tell the abomination that is his horrible balding pattern? Targets doomed if the incoming CEO can’t even see the problems directly in front of him.

I liked JC, he obviously got replaced for someone cheaper.

Was there some other story there?

This week I had to travel between three office locations. I’ve never seen morale so low across the organization. I found employees to be shockingly unrestrained in their criticism of management. WF has a real problem brewing, and I hope they are prepared for the inevitable fallout.

Just know that if you’re feeling squeezed by the new mandates, you are not alone.

Lyondellbasell has terminated roughly 85% of its IT (or Digital buzzword) staff (originally announced as 100 employees but real numbers are around 300+) that had 8+ years..with the company in an effort by an ex-Shell fool named Kayoor to outsource American jobs to TCS outsourcing Indian shared services, keeping only Senior leadership and dozens of 'directors' that are solely responsible for saving their own jobs ' and not the ones performing the actual work for the company.
Claiming they want to industrialize utilizing AI , these individuals have adopted an old model of cheaper, less experienced and less knowledgeable workers hoping they can recoup money lost due to a CEO thats agenda was to make a plastics ccompany not develop plastic.
Lyondellbasell is circling the toilet bowl.

I genuinely believe Target generated the wrath of too many people, and this caused its downfall, unfortunately innocent people who have not been involved in these terrible decisions end up suffering. As an ex employee, my treatment was absolutely horrendous and nobody on my team spoke up. I came to Target, thinking I was working for a really positive, forward looking company when in reality it’s an organization filled with yes people who are scared to speak up because the status quo will not allow it. As soon as you speak up you become a targeted individual that has no career path. I genuinely hope a new group of leadership can take over and make things right as the current leadership cannot do this. Rinse and repeat will not save Target. Investors have already signaled this, but of course why not continuing ignoring them.

Investors had grown frustrated with Mark Barrenechea's ego-driven acquisitions that bloated OpenText, diluted focus, and buried the company in debt. His exit was overdue, and the board's failure to act sooner led to a loss of investor confidence. With new directors stepping in, the reset has finally begun.

Since the leadership change, the stock has rebounded roughly 13% and investor sentiment has shifted from scepticism to cautious optimism. The message is clear — the market believes a turnaround is possible.

The next CEO will have a mandate to streamline the portfolio, divest non-strategic businesses, and rebuild discipline. Expect a leaner structure, renewed focus on innovation and profitability, and tighter execution. AI-driven efficiency will help reduce costs, while those unwilling to adapt — or who feel entitled to a job rather than earning it — will be replaced.

OpenText's best days could still be ahead — smaller, sharper, and stronger than before.

Anyone else find it funny that they are using the excuse of making faster decisions to justify the layoffs? To the people at the top, the time it takes to make decisions isn’t the problem, ITS THE DECISIONS THAT YOU ARE MAKING THAT IS THE PROBLEM!! Dei, pride, every decision they make has been wrong! But they get to stay and we get to suffer lol.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/t-mobiles-incoming-ceo-att-is-taking-potshots-because-its-under-pressure-152258495.html

So much for that new campaign those smooth-brains on the Q3 Earnings Call were so excited about.

Wish we had a CEO like TMUS

Anyone else fall asleep during the meeting? Lots of taking heads and not a lot of substance. Does anyone have any questions? Please ask us a question.

Yesterday’s memo saying “effective Tuesday, 1,800 people will be laid off” hit me hard because of the timing and the lack of clarity.

Why announce something like that on a Thursday and then expect everyone to carry on as usual until Tuesday? The uncertainty is exhausting. It affects morale, focus, and the trust we have in leadership. And to do this right before the holidays feels especially disheartening. We work here. We contribute. We care. We deserve to be treated with respect and compassion.

I truly believe this could have been handled differently. Private conversations with impacted team members, or at least a clearer timeline, would have shown care and transparency. Providing support for those waiting and acknowledging what this means for real people and their families would have gone a long way.

To everyone still showing up and doing their best right now: you matter. Your work matters. This moment is difficult, but you are showing strength and professionalism that leadership should be proud of.

There is a lot of uncertainty about which departments will be impacted, and I honestly do not know what will happen. Many are wondering if the Service Delivery Enablement umbrella, including TES Operations, Resource and Ops Enablement, Workforce Management, Project Management, Global Business Integrations, and Quality, are safe. Much of this work is being shifted to TII, but there are already challenges with execution that are not being discussed openly. TII is being given a pass because they are more cost-effective on paper, yet the true cost is being felt by the people who built the systems, processes, and culture that keep this company running. It is painful to watch valuable knowledge and commitment being replaced by cost-saving metrics.

We deserve better communication, empathy, and honesty. And for now, all we can do is continue to support each other and take pride in how we show up in the middle of so much uncertainty.

Naturally tons of rumors going around. Listing below things I have heard that I feel relatively confident in based on my sources.

• IM & Planning combining. Potentially leading to middle management cuts?
• A&A combing with another pyramid, likely home?
• F&B and E&B combining.
• L8+ have been told to relocate to Minneapolis. Already hearing some will not be returning to company.

General Numbers (from WSJ & internal)

• 1,000 layoffs, 800 job posting eliminations
• 80% of layoffs will come from US HQ
• Leaders will have 3x impact vs individual contributors.
• Would lead to estimated 600 leader layoffs, 200 ICs.

Hearing layoffs all the way from EVP down to L5. Top of pay range relative to level likely highest risk.

Assumptions are merch will be hit hardest, with likely impacts to planning as well as support roles for all functions.

Curious on the validity of all of these rumors. Like I said, I feel pretty confident in them but curious to what everyone else is hearing.

Feel free to use this thread to discuss the strong town hall presentation from our leaders.

Please Clap!

https://journalrecord.com/1997/07/17/walter-leaves-att-after-fallout-with-allen/

If there’s no real strategy or bigger plan and, more importantly, if leadership can’t adapt effectively to fast-changing circumstances, none of these layoffs or reorganizations will mean anything. My confidence in their ability to steer through the turbulence is very low.

soooo if leadership roles are affected at roughly 3x the rate of ICs, what is the target span-of-control after consolidation