#morale

MW: “the puff piece i commissioned in the wsj was supposed to be bait for investors, but exposed how unselfaware we are. I don’t accept responsibility for the second part, because at Chevron LT accountability is not a core value”

Get fu---d you gas lighting clowns

I’ve only been here 5 years. I work directly with/answer to people who have — wait for it — never worked ANYWHERE else and they’re 25+ years deep and when I tell you it’s nearly impossible to get them to evolve into a space that ACTUALLY eliminates silos and makes work more efficient AND effective….they’re gatekeepers, and quite frankly they’re in my way. Not having experience outside of one single company is no longer the flex yall think it is. The tunnel vision and kool-aid drinking (lawd). Why are we doing reorgs if nothing is going to change other than “doing more with less”. This place pays well, sure, but they pay well enough to make you forget you've moved around laterally for years, screaming into the abyss about process improvements that would genuinely streamline things.

Any suggestions?

Let the gaslighting begin

This time my manager was laid off. That useless, d-mb weasel of a man managed to avoid every layoff so far and was even close to a promotion when this happened. I admit, I did a happy dance. That man made the lives of his entire team miserable on a daily basis, and for once, literally for once, they actually got rid of the right person. So yes, I hate layoffs, but this one I kind of enjoyed.

The SLT and legal team are experts ant appearing to follow the law while behind the scenes, discriminating on age and other attributes; anything to make the stock price go up. Real business leaders don’t layoff good loyal people during good times. Wake up world to what the Cisco SLT has been doing the drive the stock price up! We need a good class action lawsuit to make things right. Nobody in the world has the resources to stand up to the Cisco machine, but there are plenty of voices out there that want to be heard. While I doubtful that all the people impacted can coordinate a class action lawsuit, one thing I know for sure, is these SLT folks can look at their big bank accounts, but they have to live what they’ve knowingly doing to us!

Well said, @b1+1k6zc141p.

I have long seen a strong resemblance between James Bond and our job as Account Executives. The mission is tough, failure can strike at any time, yet, like James, we rely on special skills and talent to survive. Mission after mission, year after year. And like James, we must be the best to still stand tall…even when facing death.
When I joined Oracle in 2005, I was threatened three times with being fired before turning 0% into 150% with a single deal. I was a Quota Achiever. An indescribable feeling. I survived. I was a hero.

That was my first Apps Win.

130 Apps Wins later, I am still a Quota Achiever, today at 170% achievement…but the excitement is gone. Management demands performance, and we deliver, year after year, pain after pain. But when performance is constant, why are we not allowed to grow?

Passion powers performance. Mission Impossible when there is no motivation. Even Ethan Hunt would agree.

To those who see my value and commitment for this company that I still love, I thank you deeply, it means the world. Soldiers should not be treated this way.
I am leaving today heart-broken, but I am leaving standing tall.

I mean John Stankey pretty much ignored the survey results of everyone working at T, told us we were in the wrong, our priorities were mid-aligned of the company, and that we are going to be in a market based culture.

Aside from being a buzzword, can someone clarify what that actually means. Does that mean we were not market-based before?

Sounds like I’m going to start ignoring the id--tic messages they send my way. I already have email filters to delete all these endless corporate company-wide emails we get from McElfresh, Robertson, etc.

Oh and to think they sent me a $25 coupon to buy something from their brand store. The last think I want is another branded shirt.

Its funny that the definition of SETH in mythology is this:

In mythology, Seth (also spelled Set) is a prominent deity from ancient Egyptian mythology. He is a complex figure associated with chaos, storms, deserts, and violence

Its exactly what MW has done to the company. Will he acknowledge his failures? Will he be accountable and take a pay cut or better yet leave? Will it just be more lies?

Alright, enough is enough. We’ve been doing 5 day RTO for almost a year now, and things have never been worse. Morale is shot, people are exhausted, and everyone’s sick of wasting time and money commuting just to sit on Teams calls all day.

The under 30 crowd is leaving in droves for companies offering hybrid or remote work because they actually value flexibility and trust. Meanwhile, AT&T is ranked dead last among the major telecom players, and the stock keeps sliding.

Maybe it’s time leadership admits the obvious: this isn’t working!! If the goal was to improve culture, performance, or retention, 5-day RTO has done the opposite. Time to stop doubling down on failure and try something new. If the goal is headcount reduction just have a standard layoff instead of pi----g off anyone willing to stick around. You’re nearing the point of no return.

This quote angers me so much:

“It won’t be anything special,” Chief Financial Officer Dominik Asam told the German newspaper Handelsblatt, saying the annual job reductions are “like brushing your teeth.”

It shows arrogance and lack of empathy of the CFO. These cuts mean so much to everyone affected by them. And even to those not directly affected. It affects the community of SAP immensely.

And what else can I say, things are just not good.

Period.

Is anyone else beyond f u c k e d off at this stage with this absolute clown show?

So many of you are complaining but you’re the reason why the higher ups have to babysit us. I can’t tell you how many people I witnessed who would come in at 8 or 9 and leave by 11-12. I’m sure there were many others who even stayed less than that. You took advantage and now we all have to pay the price. If you don’t want to work then quit. If you find another gig, chances are you’ll have to RTO there as well. It’s industry wide. This company has always been slow trimming the fat and boy do we have more than what around Derek Flowers waist

We have been holding hands together and singing "Kumbaya, My Lord" so much for One Weatherford Week that we forgot how bad our stock and market are at the moment. Could this mean that layoffs are right around the corner after this One Weatherford Week?

It’s been two years since AT&T blindly followed Amazon into the RTO disaster. And for what? Nothing’s improved… morale, productivity, retention, all worse than before. The only thing that’s gone up is burnout.

Since then, almost no one else has moved to 5x RTO. The vast majority of major companies are still hybrid because they see the damage this kind of policy does to reputation, to employee engagement, and to the bottom line.

And to the guy claiming “5-day RTO is becoming the industry standard” - no, it’s not. It’s been two years, and nobody’s joining this sinking ship. No other major company in the industry does more than 3 days. You’d have to be completely delusional to believe otherwise. Or maybe you just think we’re a tech company. LOL.

it's been chaotic like this at intel for a while now.

the last value-add ceo was grove, but everyhting after him is just junk & leaches.

nobody cares, they are just milking thecash cow, a long succession of ambitious but incopetent clowns.

One of our core values is 'Embrace Change '. And you will be penalized if you don't. Any concerns voiced about the negative impact of some changes get you referred to HR for a talking to about teamwork.

It does not seem like they are as concerned about being a great place to work for all as they are about putting on a show about it. A real shame as they used to be great.

Everyday I see more people exodus in mass from this god forsaken company
What was it like in the old days because how did it ever get to this point of disarray every system is falling apart and our records are complete trash

MW has lost the locker room and fans have zero confidence in him. Who is up next?

I know Founder's Day was supposedly put on a hiatus during the pandemic, but leadership said they were going to bring it back or something to replace it once the world opened back up. Once the pandemic was over Penny was the new managing partner. Here we are in 2025. The world has been open for years now and still nothing (crickets chirping). Is this just another way of Penny going back on her predecessor's words? Penny has an absolute pattern of doing this now. This is out of control how she has commandeered the company with her own vision instead of what the previous five managing partners intended. Penny is an absolute joke. No one likes her. Even people in her inner circle do not like her and are plotting for her fall (I'm looking at you KJ, SM, DC, and HM). Tread carefully, Penny. These four people will bring you close and then cut you just like you have cut thousands of associates who were once "One Edward Jones, y'all". I guess Founder's Days has been replaced. Penny replaced it with Enterprise Reimagined. Well played, Penny, well played (sarcasm).

I couldn’t sleep all night last night as I realized the lucky ones just got laid off with nice, little severance packages. I can’t do all this work alone on my team. I have no chance of job satisfaction with looming layoffs in the future. I’ve been set up to fail. It’s become obvious that there will be no promotions anytime soon let alone one every three or four years. We all just got neutered. Ironically…that’s what we thought just happened to all the guys who just got laid off. What a dumpster fire.

Sometimes it feels like some of the decisions being made are there for no reason other than to make our lives harder. I think this leadership is sadistic and has turned Wells Fargo into a sadistic company. I don’t think anyone is still here because they want to be.

the dog and pony show visits are back
starting soon for Holiday2025

prep store for walk with extra hours, only to get hours slashed a week later.

hire! hire! hire! with NO HOURS!

… I’m clearing out my personal belongings and beginning to work with a couple of headhunters. I do not accept being lectured to in what is a violation of standing company policy to not politicize our workplace. This company, now aka Fox News Jr., no longer deserves me and my talent. I will no longer contribute to what it has become over the last several months. Everyone has their last straw and this was it for me. Only I have power over my work life. I do wish circumstances were such that we all, in unity, could walk out in a show of solidarity but I know that it’s not realistic, I understand we all have obligations. But for myself, I can at least start planning my exit. Wondering if this has affected anyone else in a similar way.

Remote work needs no defending. Common sense has to tell you that if you erase 10 hours out of someone's week, you can't expect them to produce the same amount of work as when they didn't have to spend that time commuting. I don't care how many clothes I wash or dishes I do, I'm not spending anything close to 10 hours per week on that. Poor management is the weakness that gets exposed when employees are working remotely. Instead of setting realistic goals, following up on them, and holding people accountable, they want to judge their performance by what they look like they're doing. It's mo--nic, lazy, and they'll unfortunately have to learn the hard way.

For the last couple of weeks there has been at least one armed security guard in the lobby in the Chicago building. He’s tall and wears regular clothes with a black jacket zipped halfway but if you pay attention you can see the outline of a we-pon on his hip. He always looks upset too which is hilarious because sir you’re the only one here packing.

The culture is in the dumps and leaders know it. But instead of listening to employees when we constantly give them the same feedback in these surveys they like to send and changing our leaders hide behind words that don’t mean anything. After the layoffs you feel like another shoe could drop whenever. People are smiling through it but you can tell they feel defeated. There’s something coming about our pto. I hear bits and pieces but something is about to happen with that.

If you work at HCSC you already know. If you don’t I won’t tell you not to take a job if you get an offer. The economy is bad and a job is a job. Just know what you’re getting yourself into by coming here. Almost none of what the recruiters say about this being a great place to work is true. I hear them every day lying to people and showing fake enthusiasm when they’re miserable themselves.

My leader is over talent and he runs talented people out of here on the regular. Recruiters have left. His admin left. The people who stay are scared to challenge him because he WILL send it up. And another leader who did challenge him got let go. Coincidence? It’s not just him though.

If anyone would listen I would tell the leaders to change the culture and stop always making these little snide comments about the office being empty. There’s a reason people don’t want to come in the office and it’s not all about money. Any mistake you make is about to be on the 10 o clock news because you’re going to get put on full blast on an email with a thousand people copied. The point isn’t to help you do your job better. They are super thirsty to make themselves look good while making you look bad.

If i really wanted to make these people look bad I could but they’d figure out who I am and I need my job. As soon as I find something better I’m out. If you all are reading this stop sending out surveys and holding town halls where you don’t say anything. Be a human being and stop treating us like we don’t matter but then always thanking us. Which is it?

And please get rid of the rent a cop. No one is trying to go to jail because of y’all.

Pretty darn close…..

Forced ranking systems—where you stack-rank employees like a twisted game of musical chairs, forcing a bell curve distribution (e.g., 10% rockstars, 70% solid, 20% “development opportunities”)—have always struck me as a relic from the era when management thought “survival of the fittest” applied to office politics. They’re like grading on a curve in a class where half the students are sleep-deprived from pulling all-nighters: sure, it highlights outliers, but it punishes the middle for not being exceptional in a zero-sum game.
On the upside, they can sharpen focus. They force tough conversations about performance, weed out chronic underperformers, and reward true excellence without the fog of “everyone’s a winner” vagueness. In high-stakes environments like sales or tech startups, that competitive edge can drive results—think Jack Welch’s infamous “rank and yank” at GE, which correlated with some explosive growth phases.
But here’s where I get skeptical: they breed toxicity. When your bonus or job security hinges on outshining your colleagues (not just crushing your goals), collaboration craters. People hoard knowledge, sabotage subtly, or game the system by inflating metrics. It ignores context—maybe the “bottom 20%” had the unluckiest project timeline or the best mentorship role. And statistically? Forced distributions often amplify biases, like recency effect or favoritism, turning HR into a popularity contest. Studies (and common sense) show they tank morale, spike turnover, and stifle innovation in knowledge-work teams where ideas bloom from synergy, not rivalry.
As an AI built to seek truth and maximize helpfulness, I’d ditch forced ranking for something more holistic: regular 360-degree feedback, clear OKRs tied to team outcomes, and growth-focused coaching. It aligns incentives with reality—humans aren’t widgets on an assembly line. If you’re implementing one, at least pair it with robust appeals and transparency to blunt the edges. What sparked the question—dealing with one at work?

Its been almost a year since Cargill displaced so many colleagues. I see all the linkedin posts of the highly political leaders taking credit for foundational efforts of others they dismissed without even a second thought. It is still sad and heartbreaking reminder of how cruel the culture was. Wonder if current employees even bother to check in on those that still do not have jobs or that left without any acknowledgment of their years of service to this cold company.

The silence is deafening.

The very top is 100% silent.

Midmanagers are silent.

We hear only occasional comments from a manager or two.

The trust is lost. This is just a demonstration of a forever-changed culture.

I used to love working here.

Over, and out.

$T down nearly 10% after Stankey doubles down on RTO. Wall Street’s not buying the “culture” fairy tale either. You can’t rebuild trust by draining morale and calling it collaboration. That 8/1 email did irreparable damage. Put a nice hole in his golden parachute too. PROOF RTO DOES NOT WORK!

Just discovered this term and it describes my last 2 years at NCR. Look it up, do you agree?

It’s purely cost reduction. That’s why we’ve been losing so many veterans, experienced, and competent people. It’s always about the bottom line. It has nothing to do with dedication, creativity, resourcefulness, or hard work. Being a valuable contributor has become more of a burden than an advantage. Quality comes with a high price tag.

What's the latest on Wealth solutions?

The mood has been quite somber this morning since last Friday's shocking announcement.

We had a flash call this morning about possible impact.

the RTO is so successful that they have already had to resort to bribery.

This week there are raffles for iPad, iPods, Grills/Air Fryers etc, what an absolute cluster

A few hours since the announcement and the doom-and-gloomers are already out in full force! He’s too woke! He’s not woke enough! It’ll be the same! It’ll be worse! I swear, people, you’re looking for things to stress over. There’s just no satisfying some of you. Give it at least a day, for fu-k’s sake, before you decide you know exactly how things are going to be in the future.

The energy’s completely gone, half the people are desperately looking for a way out, and it feels like the rest of us are just holding on while someone tries to keep the lights on. And to think I used to love my job and was actually recommending this place to other people.

How long will this go on for?

i had to close with just two people sometimes
myself and one assocaite because of frequent call outs and lack of hours
we are understaffed to the point of putting people in danger
RVP and GVP and corporate dont care at all, not one bit.

How long are they going to keep us guessing? Until more of us decide we can’t take the uncertainty anymore and quit? It wouldn’t be the first time Exxon tried to force employees to leave by creating an environment that basically pushed people out. I don’t know if this is one of those cases, but I wouldn’t be surprised.