#leadership

With rising competition from companies like Roche and others, is continuing to downsize R&D investment truly the right strategy? We need an entrepreneurial CEO—one who is bold and visionary—to clearly articulate our genuine growth plan to investors. Instead of focusing solely on margin calculations through cuts, we should invest more now to develop groundbreaking products and outpace our rivals. I believe Wall Street would prefer a company with strong growth potential over one with lackluster expansion but improved margins from relentless cost reductions. The current share price speaks volumes: investors are not buying into Illumina’s new strategy.

• Multiple leaders working on Intel's Ohio One project have recently left the company.
• The departures come as construction has slowed and the project faces significant delays.
• Among those who have left are the company's top Ohio lobbyist and the construction site manager.

https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/2025/09/10/intel-leaders-leave-ohio-project-factory-openings-delayed-chips/86077035007/

How's this okay? Why is it so accepted that employees are disposable, like we're automatons and not actual people with families and feelings? I know many will say "it's just business," but how does that make it better? I'm just so tired of this sh-t. Retirement can't come soon enough.

Everything they do is a complete SCAM. From the Agents, to their business models, our Executives, horrible commercials, employees they hire, surveys, pay, the Hubs... you name it. Everything thing has a sleezy, low rent, dirty feeling. Trashy.... It feels like a bad dream that you can never wake up from. You keep running and running but you never go anywhere. This is not a legitimate company anymore. Everyone and I mean everyone I have spoken to prays for severance. The funny thing is SF keeps making new lows. Just when you think we are at rock bottom they find a whole other level to sink too. Leave, find some way out now. Run! This place is a disaster beyond disasters!

Job Hopping Is Out, Job Hugging Is In for Fearful Workers
Employees reluctant to give up job in today’s rocky job market

Callum Borchers
Sept. 3, 2025 9:00 pm ET

They don’t seem happy, they don’t give 100%—and they don’t quit.

Cranky workers are clinging to the jobs they have instead of moving on because, well, what’s the alternative in the current economy?

The extra pay that typically comes with joining another company has practically vanished. Disengagement is so widespread across the U.S. and global workforces that cheerier pastures are hard to find.

And resigning without a plan feels more reckless now than in the good old days (2021). Back then, you could get by on pandemic savings and stimulus money, live the #vanlife for a while, then watch your inbox fill with interview requests from businesses on hiring sprees.

How times have changed in just a few short years. Today, employees are unwilling to risk change and simply go through the motions. The number of Americans quitting their jobs, and the openings available to people looking for work, continue to decline, according to federal data released on Wednesday.

The trend of staying put out of fear is known as “job hugging,” a sharp turn from the job hopping of recent years.

Like a bad penny

This is a new headache for employees, bosses and the economy writ large.

Go-getters hankering for promotions might lose out if mediocre co-workers refuse to vacate the next rung on the corporate ladder.

“When people were moving during the Great Resignation, that allowed others to get promoted, perhaps ahead of schedule and have a stretch job,” says Alan Guarino, vice chairman of consulting firm Korn Ferry. “Now people can’t move up and they potentially get demotivated because of the lack of opportunity.”

Managers, meanwhile, were only a short time ago complaining about low retention rates. Now, there might not be enough healthy turnover to reinvigorate their teams.

Leaders usually have ways of managing out unwanted employees. There’s “quiet firing,” basically sidelining someone to underscore the writing on the wall. Another favorite tactic is a performance-improvement plan.

“Truthfully, being put on a performance-improvement plan means, ‘We do not want you here,’” says labor attorney Kim Cramer. “That sounds really harsh, but in my experience, performance-improvement plans are not meant to help the employee.”

Instead of taking the hint, though, more people are riding out their employment as long as it lasts. In recent weeks, Cramer has had a surge of clients ask her to review their severance agreements after being terminated. She estimates 60% to 70% of them knew they had fallen out of favor a while ago but didn’t leave.

Exceptions to the rule

The prototypical job hugger is a drag on the team, but not all are like that. Some are average contributors or even high achievers.

Doug Yakola, a former McKinsey senior partner who is now an independent consultant, notes many workers no longer take an up-or-out approach to their careers. Instead of leaving for a bigger title and greater responsibility when they hit a ceiling, more people are willing to remain in neutral if the pay and work-life balance are decent.

A tech worker I’ve known for 20 years is in this position. He sees no upward mobility and resents his employer’s rightward political turn. But he earns well and has a sweet, hybrid schedule that affords ample time for hobbies. He keeps putting in a good-enough effort at work because the job, though unfulfilling, serves its purpose in his life.

B-teamers like him can be valuable to companies that can’t realistically expect everyone to be an all-star, Yakola says. This is especially true at businesses like the ones he advises, which often need turnarounds and aren’t exactly magnets for top talent.

“I actually like job huggers in a weird sort of way because I can’t replace employees very easily, and I need to keep the experience,” he says.

There is also a strain of type-A job huggers. They reached the upper echelons of their organizations but feel blocked from the very top. They are disillusioned yet too risk-averse to break away. And it’s not in their DNA to slack off.

“I work with somebody who hates being a lawyer but she’s amazing at it,” says Alisia Gill, a former corporate HR chief who coaches midcareer women. “She cries in her car every morning before she goes to work, and then she goes in there and does her job because she doesn’t know what else to do.”

Gentle shove

In cases where a company wants someone to leave, but the person keeps hanging on, firing seems like the obvious solution. But managers say they would much rather have an employee leave voluntarily.

It’s often cheaper, since businesses might owe severance pay to people they let go. A resignation spares the boss an awkward conversation. What’s more, it can preserve relations with the rest of the team. It’s easier to manage people whose friend took another opportunity than it is to lead employees whose pal you just canned.

Research by University of Chicago economist Virginia Minni suggests a relatively simple strategy can help nudge job huggers toward the door: reflection.

She and colleagues studied roughly 3,000 white-collar workers whose employer put them through a series of exercises to suss out their sense of purpose. Overall productivity increased for a few reasons.

“This actually encouraged some people to leave on their own,” Minni says.

While others found better-fitting roles internally, being forced to confront the drudgery of their jobs was enough to make a bunch of low performers quit.

So, if you are hugging your humdrum job and your boss strikes up a philosophical conversation about the meaning of life and work, you’ll know what’s going on.

Shankar today announced more VPs coz that is the answer?

And they travel business class? AV VP Sales is a KN prodigy

Trash can people!

I was a victim of the layoffs today at JRC. And I don't understand why management is not telling the truth about another round of layoffs in November. An employee in HR told me two weeks ago that FE/RDXT is closing down in November. And when I call another employee in a different area, he said the same thing. They just don't know if they want to lay them off or move them. If you look at the order book, all of the orders stop in October. The manager told everyone that there area wasn't involved in this round. Why isn't he being truthful. The even put a new PGL in there, just to have the area close down. All of these guys lives are being impacted by lies.

Inside person here, and I speak and connect with a few folks off company channels, and most of us have absolutely no faith in Cengage “Leadership” and job security. Fall Rush was absurd. How much business will be lost? Anyone else have thoughts?

stock falling to double digits, forget double digit growth. Too many SVPs with no work from GBS fired, yet no difference. some one in leadership should ask, instead of bull dozing on the employees, what is the company doing to grow and make life better.
layoffs, forcing people to do mundane work, no innovation, what more?

As long as this much wealth can be pumped out, who cares what happens tomorrow?

We knew it was likely coming but DP officially named new CIO. Thoughts? I think it was somewhere here where someone said DP was one of the ones pushing for HIH....

So if BP is a terrible CEO why did another Blues plan or any insurance company hire him as their CEO? Rumor is the board here even forced him out- So why was he hired for the same position or any position? Not taking up for him-just curious

I wonder if this is a brainstorming session to figure out how to meet the expense targets for 2025 & 2026.

I stepped out of my management position and took an IC role at the same level. Using managers the way that Dell wants to use them just doesn’t align with my ethics and career goals. You aren’t really doing any productive, laying off people left and right and there is absolutely no appetite for any original thought or ideas. No want for innovation either and absolutely zero growth.

Why would I want to stay in any managerial role at all? Unless you really just want to make PowerPoints, sc--w people over, kiss a$$ and lay people off then I don’t see the point anymore here at Dell.

If you ever wanted an example of what poor leadership looks like, just look around here. Confusion everywhere, mixed messages from the top, no clear plan, and a workforce that’s demoralized because nobody trusts the people in charge. This isn’t just bad luck, it’s the result of bad leadership.

When a company keeps leaning on layoffs to fix problems, it’s a giant red flag. It doesn’t matter what excuse the leadership gives, be it cost cutting, restructuring, or aligning priorities. It all points to leadership that doesn’t know how to manage long term.

We have a break marketing slogan!
This will fix everything!

When is Farley’s last day?

I know I bring real value to the company, but it’s draining when leadership acts like it’s never enough. They lean on me whenever something important comes up, but when it’s time for recognition or rewards, suddenly I’m invisible. This has been going on for a while and I've just about had it. I'd be happy to be laid off at this point.

The way they handle layoffs, the lack of transparency, the way they pile work on people who are already stretched thin, and the total lack of empathy from leadership, none of it feels accidental. It’s like they go out of their way to remind you that you’re replaceable.

How many years of human carnage do you require to get it?

Hands up if you know this operating model will fail. It’s not even official and I can already see how short sighted some of the changes are.

ESPN, Fox execs publicly question Nielsen’s YouTube numbers! The official numbers for the YouTube stream of Friday night’s Chiefs-Chargers game were disappointing. And there’s a good chance they’re not entirely accurate.

A pair of execs from ESPN and Fox have questioned the Nielsen methodology that generated the measurement of 17.3 million worldwide viewers for the free stream of the game from Brazil.

Guess Nielsen shouldn't have fired experienced people with 20-35 years of experience to replace them with cheap labor from India just for the sake of saving money and making sure that their CEO and board can take home a few extra million per year!!!

This could be the beginning of the end as Nielsen clients realize that paying Nielsen isn't worth it and they should move to the competition!

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/espn-fox-execs-publicly-question-nielsens-youtube-numbers

I am asking as a “ Care Navigator “… nurse with tons of clinical experience… working with CW who the h$ll are our leaders? Why aren’t they front and center? And why are we not eligible for ERP because our opinions do not matter. We are working our butts off … for what?? I would love to take the ERP and be done! That being said, I would not let my dog be treated by ANYONE at Centerwell!

MD and JC : we need more AI mentions.

I read one of the posts where someone commented on our marketing challenges and I thought it needed its own section. We need a new direction on our marketing strategy because it does seem like ours is something out of the 90s. Everyone knows it in sales. We always say that we sell "in spite of our su-k a-s chief marketing officer" . We need new material and modern ads and sales tools. Her approach is something out of the fu--ing flintstones. Give us a fresh and young marketing plan and tools. We are embarrassed when we see tiny companies kicking our a-s on their slogans and marketing material. A change is needed there. In marketing, being bold and creative and making a change every few years is not a bad thing.

Anyon hearing new updates about what’s happening this quarter... The rumors keep circulting and its hard to tell whats real and whats just noise and fear... Morale is already shaky, and people are on edge waiting for the next move. Keeps feeling like the company is just focused on short-term numbers than on the folks actually keeping things running.

curious if anyone else has heard anything solid

How many and which jobs were protected/closed? Those folks must be hiding and lying to colleagues pretending they are going through the same thing and which jobs they’ve applied for. Why won’t they show us the full org and number of positions. But saying they can’t legally? Either way, almost done this bullsh-t re org.

So many strategic mistakes, so much waste and loss, and yet nobody is holding senior execs responsible or accountable? Why is this the case?

NICE THAT THE COMPANY DID NOT TELL US THIS!!!

Attendees Will Learn
FIS has officially ended active sales of its Modern Banking Platform, once positioned as the strategic replacement for IBS and Horizon.

At the same time, MISER is being rebranded as AffinityEdge. These moves create serious uncertainty for banks and credit unions running on Horizon, IBS, or MISER.

What FIS’ announcements mean for the future of your core? What decisions do you need to make? Join Cornerstone Advisors’ Core Transformation experts Brad Smith and Steve Wildman for the FIS’ Modern Banking Platform webinar to learn how you can navigate this moment of disruption.

https://www.crnrstone.com/gritty-insights/events-and-webinars/fis-modern-banking-platform

Dear Board Members:

Well, where do I start? Stephanie is doing wonders for this company… by turning it into a ghost ship. I’ve never seen a CEO come in and shrink a company on purpose. Who knew that the secret to success was reverse growth? It’s almost like she read “How to Ki-l Your Company in 3 Easy Steps” and decided to follow it to the letter. I can only assume the stock buybacks were a secret plot to buy back her credibility. 1.2 billion dollars down the drain, but hey, at least the stock price got a brief happy moment, right?

Let’s talk about that 1.2 billion for a second—imagine if we’d thrown that into product development. Meanwhile, the entire Banking IDSW budget for 2025 is $190 million. Pathetic doesn’t even begin to describe it.

Now, don’t get me wrong, Gary wasn’t exactly everyone’s favorite, but let’s be real here—his biggest mistake wasn’t buying Worldpay. It was letting Stephanie Ferris enter stage left. I’d rather have Gary’s occasional misstep than whatever strange, McKinsey-fueled magic trick Stephanie is attempting to pull off.

So, Board Members, if you actually care about the company’s future (and don’t want to see it end up in a Netflix documentary about corporate disasters), it’s time to bring back Gary!

Also, if anyone knows how to set up an anonymous survey (other than Reddit), I’ll happily do the honors and send it straight to the Board.

Cheers,

My goodness our leaders are awful!

Original: If LBT wants to execute to his vision of a slimmer Intel, with hyper focus on 3-4 areas (PC, Server, AI, IFS)... he's going to bring in his own guys he trusts to execute his goals. Let's be honest... he can't trust anyone in ELT today who supported the coup to oust Pat. These people have already demonstrated driving Intel into the ground, and proven they'll stab the CEO in the back (or in the face) for their gain (or survival)... not exactly the people you want to be surrounded by. Many current Intel execs will just retire, get spun off, or find new jobs elsewhere.

Update: Five months later... it's like this guy can predict the future! Aside from Sweater Boy Judas... every ELT/ET member has been replaced now. While the cancer has metastasized, at least they cut out the tumors (ELT), and started chemo (layoffs of deadweight, worthless excess), let's hope a new culture of real work, and zero patience for failure can take hold, and Intel can be on a path of recovery!

1) Capital misallocation
non-primary business ventures, cost cutting, stock buybacks

2) Failed management
misguided programs, general incompetence, arrogance, strategic blunders, bureaucratic processes, focus on politics

I would say cost cutting in the wrong areas is the major one. The other failures are somewhat recoverable

She has been marked OOO for a couple of days now.

In a time when departments are being asked to tighten budgets and prioritize essential operations, and provide more transparency, funding travel for a certain HQRI "leaders" appears not only fiscally irresponsible but also questionable.

Any idea what EM is currently doing ? Any action at top?

Leadership says....
We need to work together more. ...
As the intro to the Return To Office sales pitch. Which came-off as not very convincing. So, how's that gonna work if there is not 100% RTO? Can teams/teammates huddle in one space on- premise at a Humana office? What are they trying to solve?

$200 million in stock buybacks in three years. The top lines their own pockets instead of putting money back into the company and/or investing in their devoted workforce.

The CEO joyfully shouts, "innovation!" While he does nothing but micromanage sales and marketing. How about you focus on cutting ties with captain ponytail and the stock will increase. Analysts and shareholders will dance in the streets.

Stock buybacks, layoffs, and no raises. How can the top be this greedy? You've let amazing talent go over the last couple years while allowing the CMO to hire her friends who do nothing but su-k the air out of the room. Culture isn't dying; it's dead.

We have leaders that are incredibly insecure—primarily the CMO and CTO. They surround themselves with pathetic yes-men and yes-women. They don't respect feedback that would improve their departments. They are dictators. Speak up and you will be laid off.

The CMO continues to build a top-heavy org while cutting those who were doing the work of three people and added tremendous value for the cost. She hires SVPs & VPs in California who take credit for the work that came before them. She then lays people off in lower cost states. She's bleeding money.