#morale

Its awfully quiet on here. . . . where did everyone go? Is everyone emotionally exhausted from last year?

The Danville plant is a mess due to lack of leadership because they refuses to lead! Nepotism runs the show, accountability is nonexistent, and the people who actually keep the place running are treated like they’re disposable. It’s unbelievable how far the culture has fallen. Danville has low morale, high turnover, and a leadership team completely disconnected from reality. We will be lucky to have jobs by the end of the year! What was once a great place to work is an absolute nightmare to go into!

What is happening right now is not just a restructuring on paper. It is something people are living through every day, with stress, sadness, confusion, and a growing sense of injustice.

Many of the engineers being impacted are not low performers. They are experienced people who carry years of product knowledge. They know the history, the logic, the complexity, the technical choices, and all the invisible work behind the product. They are the people others turn to when things get difficult. Seeing them leave is painful, and it is hard not to wonder what will be left when so much knowledge walks out the door.

And for those who stay, the situation is not better. They are left with uncertainty, heavier workloads, and the pressure to deliver more than before with fewer people. They are expected to keep moving faster, to build better releases, and to carry on as if nothing fundamental has changed. But something has changed. A lot has changed.

For the past two years, teams have been asking for support. More hiring. Better direction. Clearer product decisions. These concerns were raised again and again. People spoke up because they cared, because they wanted the product to succeed, because they could already see the risks ahead. Today, it feels deeply unfair to watch engineering carry the consequences while the deeper product and strategic issues remain untouched.

There is now a real sense of loss inside the teams. People feel lost. People feel demotivated. People are trying to stay professional, but the truth is that morale has been hit hard. When almost half of an R&D organization is affected, this is not a small adjustment. It changes everything. It changes the atmosphere, the trust, the energy, and the belief people had in what they were building together.

This is not written to attack anyone. It is written to say out loud what many are feeling quietly. You cannot remove so many of the people who know how to build, maintain, and improve a product, then expect the same product to become stronger overnight. You cannot ask the remaining teams to do more with less, with more pressure and less support, and pretend this is a normal situation.

Behind all of this, there are human beings. Engineers who gave years of effort, thought, and commitment. Teams who tried to raise concerns early. People who genuinely cared about the product and where it was going. That is why this hurts so much.

Sometimes the real damage is not visible in a headcount reduction. It is visible in the knowledge lost, the trust broken, and the people left wondering how they are supposed to keep going like this.

The moment BNY announces it has “partnered with McKinsey for strategic realignment,” associates react with the same serenity NASA astronauts display when Mission Control calmly radios, “We’re detecting an unexpected structural anomaly. Please remain calm.” A hush ripples through the workforce. Teams icons flip to “Busy,” résumés begin auto launch sequences, and everyone suddenly remembers they have “a friend at JPMC” they should probably ping before atmospheric reentry.

Associates know the pattern. McKinsey doesn’t arrive to optimize joy; they arrive to optimize payload weight — by jettisoning crew.

Soon the PowerPoint Telemetry Flood begins: hundreds of slides filled with arrows, thrust vectors, and phrases like “strategic delayering,” “value capture acceleration,” and “synergy unlocks.” Employees translate these instantly: “layoffs,” “more layoffs,” and “brace for impact.”

Then the consultants appear — bright eyed, hyper confident, and unmistakably born during the iPhone 6 era. They interview associates about the very systems those associates built, taking notes with the intensity of NASA scientists documenting steps to repair a faulty toilet and drain my catheter. Employees smile politely while thinking, “This is how my mission ends — explained back to me by someone who still uses their college meal plan.”

Meanwhile, deep in the executive command module, RV and Dermie quietly cheer as the fear and panic meter spikes and the algorithm for layoffs without severance boots up, humming like a guidance computer that only calculates cost savings.

The BNY EC soon begins speaking fluent McKinsey-ese:

• “Zero based redesign” (cut everything)
• “Workforce rationalization” (cut everyone)
• “Operating model uplift” (cut differently)

Morale drops like a surprise space toilet malfunction in microgravity. Motivation shifts from “doing great work” to “avoiding being noticed,” “avoiding being too unnoticed,” and “finding a new mission before this capsule depressurizes.”

Right on cue, HR issues its standard transmission: all employees must refrain from unprofessional or derogatory comments — including emojis. Violations may result in corrective action up to and including termination. A sarcastic po-p or head ba----g wall emojis could apparently end your career faster than a failed docking maneuver.

By the time the consultants return to Earth, the BNY EC will declare mission success, and associates will quietly wonder whether the strategy ever involved improvement — or simply surviving another orbit on the dark side of the corporate moon.

Just curious, what percentage of T employees respect and admire John Stankey? I would estimate less than 5%, what do you say?

I was one of the grunts that was let go last week. From stories I'm hearing, directors with 2-4 directs remain, all the management in remote locations like CT and DE and those massive salaries are intact. Would have been the opportunity for real change, but nothing will change, but for hundreds of less of us grunts doing the actual work. Yes, I'm a bit bitter.

Think about this.

Most companies, when they see something causing unnecessary stress or friction for employees, try to fix it. Even small things. Shorter commutes, more flexibility, better alignment. It’s basic common sense because it improves morale and productivity.

Here it feels like the exact opposite.

Every decision somehow lands on the option that creates the most friction. The most inconvenience. The most disruption to people’s lives.

Live 10 miles from one office? Doesn’t matter. You’re required to drive 50 miles to another one.
Can do your job perfectly from home? Irrelevant. Be physically present anyway.
Teams are distributed across the country? Still sit in an office on Teams calls.

At some point it stops feeling accidental. It starts to feel like pain is being chosen on purpose.

And then leadership turns around and asks why there’s no culture. Why people aren’t going above the bare minimum anymore. Why morale is gone.

Morale didn’t just disappear. It was worn down decision by decision, policy by policy, until people stopped believing anything would actually improve.

Then you hear “there’s no loyalty anymore” while at the same time wondering why no one shows up to town halls, no one engages, no one cares.

It’s not confusing.

People don’t disengage for no reason. They disengage when they feel ignored, when feedback goes nowhere, and when every decision makes their day-to-day worse.

And yet somehow the expectation is that people should accept all of this, have bad policy shoved down their throats, and then turn around and be grateful for it. After surveys where honest feedback was ignored or worse, scolded.

That’s not just disconnected. It’s delusional.

This didn’t become a bottom-tier culture overnight. It got there because of decisions like this. Because of policies like this.

Culture and morale aren’t things you can slap on a PowerPoint and speak into existence. They’re built by listening, adjusting, and actually giving people a reason to care.

Right now, that reason is gone.

Based on recent employee reviews on platforms like Glassdoor and Indeed, Truist has faced significant criticism, with some employees labeling it a poor workplace due to high-stress, understaffing, and poor management. Common complaints include intense sales pressure, post-merger cultural issues, and poor work-life balance.
Key themes from negative reviews include:
Management & Culture: Reports of toxic, "bully" management, high turnover, and a lack of support from leadership.
Workload & Staffing: Many employees report being overwhelmed, understaffed, and expected to handle multiple roles (e.g., teller duties while being a banker).
Compensation & Career: Frustration over stagnant pay, minimal raises, and broken promises regarding career advancement.
Morale: Deteriorating culture, inconsistent, and often, low morale following the merger, often characterized as a "chaotic environment".
Glassdoor
Glassdoor
+7

Constant pressure, endless questioning, no acknowledgment or reward, and then you're dismissed without a word. Eventually you start doubting everything - your skills, your capacity, your value. And yet, the people I've worked with here have been genuinely competent professionals. That's no accident. Companies do this on purpose. They'd rather have a workforce that's limited and easily controllable than one that's thriving and knows its own worth.

This place is way too complicated. Too many different groups, too many channels. One part of the company has no clue what the other part is doing. I'll be happy to be out of here, even if it's by being laid off.

I'd do anything else at this point - different company, different industry, I don't care. Healthcare years are like dog years. One equals five. And I think I just ran out of years.

Whoever's left after the next round is in for a rough time. The company won't spend a dime more on employees, but everyone will be expected to pick up the slack for absolutely nothing in return.

Anyone who tells you IBM cares about your career is lying. There's no interest in developing people. None. The only focus is the stock number and the people at the top getting wealthier. Everything else is noise.

Every single round of cuts made me care less. My work ethic has dropped with each one. I just don't see the point anymore.

They cut two people from my team months ago and gave me their work. So now I'm carrying three roles. I've stopped caring about deadlines. I do what I can and the rest waits. If something is late, that's their problem now.

I'm at the point where I'm dreading each Monday because I'm not sure what they'll drop on us. Will it be layoffs, loss in benefits, or whatever else they can think of to make our lives more miserable. God, I hate this place.

We have recognition programs, but they don’t seem tied to actual contributions. Some people get highlighted constantly while others doing similar work don’t get mentioned at all. I know I'm not the only one who's noticed the inconsistency. Talk about a morale ki-ler.

And it's climbing rapidly. The number of goodbye emails I've received lately says more than any official update.

That's my plan. Why push yourself? Hard work gets you one of two things: a raise that doesn't even match inflation, or a spot on the layoff list.

Even new hires are already questioning how stable things are and whether they made a mistake coming here. When it’s that obvious that early on, it pretty much says it all.

We lost more than half of our team. I have no idea how things will look from this point on. I'm worried we'll be reassigned to other teams, and I really don't want to lose my remaining coworkers or my manager. She's one of the few good ones left. I know layoffs are done, but I think the aftermath will be just as bad for the rest of us.

When you read these threads you wonder was it ever a good company? So much whining and moaning and everything is wrong and it’s always the fault of others. Perhaps simply a long-term losing culture?

This topic is staying. Why is the CL TV leader allowed to nothing for years?

Too many people doing close to nothing on this team and horrible morale. How long can this last?

I'm trying to stay positive, but it’s tough to picture things improving in any way without major changes. And I don't think we'll be seeing such changes any time soon, if ever.

Yeah, not gonna make that mistake again, that's for sure.

Waiting…🤮🤮🤮
This is getting ridiculous!!!

So, layoffs are over and most of the VRP folks have left. David and Kari are headed toward the door. HIH hasn't gotten any worse. Spring is in the air.

With all that in the mix, how is the overall morale you are seeing among your team and co-workers in general?

Title says it all. Some areas are far worse than others.

Just something I notice from working at Chevron over the years. A lot of Chevron employees are actually a lot more competent than their self-perceived level of competence. Most times, the smarter you are the more self-critical one can get because the tendency to question everything in itself is a core part of being intelligent.

After more than two decades here, how the he-l am I to take this as "just business?"

We are able to hire warm bodies . That is all. $14-$16 starting, some positions have zero applications. 😳😳 and if we do hire don’t expect much out of them.

It won't be long before it's my or your turn to depart and face the real world and actually work for a living...

What morale?

Having worked with every one of them, I'm genuinely happy I'm leaving intel in two weeks. This is a fu--ing embarrassment.

Look at the faces in the crowd of the Employee Culture recap video and tell me that Business Leadership still believes the koolaid they’re peddling sounds delicious to the employees. What a joke. No clue

Every day we hear something about cuts and have are jobs threatened! Do it already! Tired of being under the damn microscope! I constantly see people sitting in the cafe as I go from assignment to assignment, and everytime, no matter what time, there is a old blond haired lady sitting in OC8. No wonder Intel is in trouble, paying people to sit around and do nothing!

Top 3 answers

Not as good of a worker as everyone thinks.

Very lazy and don’t like change in daily routine, but still wanna get paid.

It gets me out of the house, and wife says I need to have a job of sorts.

Anything you pick tells one loads about you and your lifestyle and future intent.

Original SF Main branch shutting down according to teamwork. Sad end of an era. Though was already the end when the museum shut down.

I’m for ending Summer hours to increase stock value. There will be a morale hit and some grumbling and attrition. But the employees will adjust.

How far does the stock have to fall before someone realizes we have the wrong leadership? The Ferriswheel sold worldpay to FIS and then became CEO of FIS. Spun it as a great thing to jettison it. Wow! She really is amazing for her own net worth. While the shareholders and employees keep losing, she wins. Let me guess more cuts are coming because that is all she and her BFF can come up with when they catch heat. If McKinsey was public, it would have been a better investment than FIS. Meanwhile go tell the banks these are great changes for us. Look at the pretty dolphin.