#toxicenvironment

uk office is toxic
clueless managers
80% of sales team on have had burn out in last year

Things changed dramatically after my last manager was laid off and the new one came in. The constant criticism, micromanagement, and obvious favoritism have made the job exhausting. I'm actually finding myself hoping my position gets eliminated because leaving with severance sounds better than continuing like this. That's how bad it's gotten.

I'm applying to pretty much anything that might get me out of here. Hopefully the job market improves soon because I don't see much reason to keep investing in a place that treats people as disposable.

I went from really liking my job to dreading it. And it happened in six years I've been here, which is not that long for such a drastic change.

It’s been almost 3 years since the first round of major layoffs that changed everything. The layoffs have continued more “silently” twice a year since then. Not a single person feels secure or appreciated anymore. Things at TU were pretty good prior to Nov 2023. Many VP’s and SVP’s were decent humans who cared about their people. Now it’s every man for themselves, the hunger games culture. I firmly believe our CEO enjoys his legacy as the hatchet man. It’s true that we are all id--ts to stay, but leaving is not that easy. Remember that they are spending hundreds of thousands on this boondoggle India trip. I’ve seen the numbers.

I’ve noticed this trend: older, more tenured employees aren’t leaving on their own however young people seem to get out of here fast. Very few make it to 2 years. I realize the younger generations are prone to job hopping so some of this is expected but a lot of it is based on their desire to get away from the toxic environment. So why do tenured employees stay? Too close to retirement? Waiting for severance? Afraid of looking for a job elsewhere?

...just this...

Does anyone else specifically in corp maybe in the marketing realm sick of this phrase? I’ve heard it more in the past couple of weeks than I have in the past year, but it’s not the first time I’ve heard it and basically to me It’s permission for someone to be an absolute a--hole towards you, gaslight you, treat you like garbage, tell you your content is sh-t and then turn around and be told to just assume that they meant that feedback positively, it is the epitome of gaslighting and it just seems so fitting with this company adopted the expression so much that a VP shared something as a mandate and I’m talking about Tracy who introduced it I think to the world lol

The funny thing is that the one thing we all seem to agree on is that we'd rather not be here. That's probably not the kind of teamwork leadership was hoping for.

The people at the top seem to get away with almost anything while toxic behavior is allowed to continue. You can actually see the environment changing people who used to care, as they become bitter and completely checked out. That's the part that scares me because once that attitude spreads, it's really hard to turn things around.

I was genuinely happy to work here when I started, and now I can't wait to get away from it. The constant pressure and threats have completely worn me down.

India memebers have literally spoiled the work culture. Some managers are so rude.

Being forced into offices that are noisy, inefficient, and uncomfortable has made everybody nervous and short-tempered. Even a small ask can get an over-the-top reaction - and I don't even blame people for being like that. Those who are calling it the "great leap backward" are right.

They want us miserable to quit on our own. Layoffs are too expensive. I'm betting you that's their plan.

How do you work at a place where a humiliating exit, at a time not of your choosing, is universally guaranteed? Surely folks aren’t that hard up for money that they need to sell their body at a place like this?

Face it. Very few things there aren't.

When did bullying become so normalized? I'd honestly like to know, because I remember it wasn't like this before.

Constant criticism, impossible expectations, managers who seem to enjoy making people feel small, and the list goes on. It isn't just unpleasant, it's psychologically damaging. I'm now questioning my own competence, my value, and my sanity. This place is something else.

I used to enjoy work. Now every day is an exercise in willpower to get out of bed and show up.

While global HQ preaches corporate ethics and announces structured layoffs with severance packages, the reality at one of its major international subsidiaries is a textbook disaster of cronyism, severe toxic management, and unlawful practices.
If you are considering joining this company (either in sales or other), read this first.

1. Cronyism & Extreme Toxic Environment Following a change in leadership, the regional entity was overtaken by an ex-competitor clique that privatized the organization. The pressure and chaotic direction became unbearable: within a single regional technical department, two young engineers collapsed due to severe vascular crises (myocardial infarction and cerebral hemorrhage). Unsurprisingly, both systems engineers and sales reps have been fleeing the subsidiary in droves, with multiple new hires quitting during their probation or taking medical leave immediately after.

2. Severance Evasion via We-ponized PIP To avoid paying official restructuring/severance packages, local management we-ponized PIPs against selected targets. Despite prior recognized contributions, impossible targets were imposed to manufacture failure. Legitimate rights to medical leave were concealed from stressed employees, leaving them no choice but to resign under extreme duress.

3. The Ridiculous "60pt Font" Forced Resignation In one flagrant instance of constructive dismissal, management presented a resignation template that had already pre-printed the text "Personal Reasons" in an absurd 60-point bold font—forcing the employee to sign away their rights to company-initiated severance. The sheer amateurism and intimidation tactics of local management are beyond belief.

4. Official Government Regulatory Intervention The negligence didn't stop at forced departures. Former employees attempting to process legal post-employment documentation were met with an automated bounce-back stating the HR inbox was "no longer monitored" and completely neglected for months. This explicit violation of statutory labor regulations triggered a formal inquiry and corrective action by the local government's labor regulatory agency.
   Local leadership is desperately trying to hide these catastrophic failures from San Jose. HQ Compliance, Rajiv, and the Audit Committee need to investigate the toxic clique running this subsidiary before further legal liabilities and brand damage hit the global press.

The environment is tainted with toxicity, fear and ugliness, including the behavior and communication from the leaders and colleagues.

As thankful as I am to be employed, the nightmare here never ends. It isn’t the work itself that is stressful, it’s the culture. There’s too little focus on competence and too much focus on sycophancy. Some senior “leaders” know nothing, don’t listen and make baseless, bullsh-t decisions (ahem Lise). I don’t know how people with zero technical acumen can make technical decisions. Furthermore, they are too bull-headed and busy kissing ELT a** to even take practical, technical advice. Additionally, they are trying to manage people out; even employees who have been high-performing are getting slammed across the board, pretty much out of nowhere. If ever there was a toxic environment, this is it!

I can't say this strongly enough: if you have any skills, any talent, any ambition...leave this place. It's a dumpster fire that will only drag you down. Get out and don't look back.

So I am currently at Cigna, Social worker role in medical department, our entire department is being let go as Cigna is exiting the IFP/Affordable Healthcare act market. I'm currently trying to beef up my private practice in hopes of going full time so I can avoid corporate world again- BUT I have noticed openings for BH roles at Aetna. I want to hear from anyone in the BH deparment- what's it like? outrageous caseload? toxic environment? poor management? Because Cigna BH department took a massive nose dive into he-l in the last year and there is nothing in the universe that would make me go back to the BH department of Cigna. I fear it's much the same at Aetna, but if I can't get my private practice to full time then I need to have a job.

Hard work and skill won't get you ahead. Flatter your boss and trash-talk the competition. That's the winning combination.

Walked out a year ago and the weight lifted immediately. I'm a completely different person now. I can't tell you how much my life has improved now that I don't spend more than a third of each day stressing and surrounded by a toxic environment. If you can, leave. It'll make all the difference.

The whole company became a joke once Greed took over. Bad decision, horrible promotions to many young woman that were not competent to assume those roles, but Greed like his pretty young women around. Also he loved to have his "yes" men by his side. What a mess this company has spiraled into. Management used to brag about how they never laid anyone off, now its a common every other year occurrence. So top heavy with incompetent leadership that should have been the first to go, not the front line workers that actually did things. Many EVP's and VP on the sale force should have been shown the door with their useless sales tactics... and if you did not go along or drink the toxic cool aid they were handing out, you were an outcast and would never go any where in the company. I thought it would get better with a change of leadership- no because they were hyper focused on DEI and over paid HR leadership that wanted to shove their agenda down the employees throat when they should have been getting rid of most of the sales leaders in the field. Tom M. would be so disgusted with what has happened to this once great company over the last 11 years. Stay away from this toxic place, stay far away!

I'm serious, if you can find a job anywhere else, do it. At NCR, being good at your job makes you a threat. Everybody will see you as competition, and any chance of advancement will vanish. You'll end up working for someone who, in any sane organization, would be your assistant. It's a system designed to crush ambition.

The best employees get blamed and cut while the lazy, gossipy, rude ones get protected. Why does it work this way?

The toxicity is so bad, they are BURNING people's reputations with SLANDER for FTE & Consultants. Avoid this place at all costs!!

Every day we have to deal with gaslighting, intimidation, and bullying. It's not occasional. It's every single day. No wonder morale is in the gutter.

I feel like I've drank some poisoned coolaid at the FY27 kickoff. Ever since the last round of restructuring, layoffs, optimisation or whatever the fu-k else you wanna call it the company processes have ground to a screeching maniacal halt. Sales? Unexistant. Licensing? Can't provide you with a license, can't tell a license for two completely different products apart, need to involve 50 people to provide a client with anything. Developers? Now part of Support?! Support? Can't hear a squeal out of them unless you invoke an ancient Latin spell - oh wait thats just all of their senior management's names im writing in the CC of this email, not Ancient Latin. Do they have the clients locked up with a g-n pointed to their head to keep signing up for these dorky a-s shifty products or something??? Every day in this company is like a Benadryl trip where any issue I have needs to be solved by the hat man I keep seeing with the corner of my eye that apparently doesnt fu--ing exist. Absolute misery.

I really hope everyone is able to leave this toxic af company. Can you imagine working somewhere where earnings calls are a place to celebrate the value the company has delivered? Every earnings call here, the more numb I’ve become to wondering when the next LR will hit.

Unfortunately, I did not choose to work at Siemens- Siemens acquired the company I worked for. Since the acquisition, I’ve found the overall environment incredibly difficult. There is very little genuine collaboration, and many interactions feel unnecessarily abrasive or outright rude. The overall energy often feels adversarial rather than like people are working toward the same goals.
The organizational silos seem to reinforce a culture of protecting individual realms instead of collaborating across teams.
This has been the most frustrating company environment I’ve experienced, and I've worked at multiple big tech companies. It is not an organization I would personally consider a 'best place to work'.

I gave Nike 25 years. In the end, I had to leave a job I loved because the systems built to protect employees chose to protect the company instead.

The culture has become toxic, and Nike wants employees to just accept it as the norm.I wasn’t willing to. And I don’t think you should be either.

Speaking up was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I knew there was a real chance I’d be retaliated against and discriminated against in the very environment I was reporting on. I did it anyway. I filed three formal complaints. Each one can be more than substantiated. Each one was overlooked and ignored — because my boss believes she’s untouchable, protected by the VP she reports to.

Here’s what I’ve learned: addressing problems at Nike isn’t actually possible from the inside. HR, ER, People Solutions, Legal — they exist to protect Nike. Not the employees who trust them enough to come forward. All of these teams report into EH. And when they ignore and disregard Speak Up complaints, they aren’t addressing the real problem — they’re protecting it. The real issue was never me. It was leadership.
People shouldn’t have to leave the job they built a career on.

I had no choice but to leave. And now I’m working with the EEOC to fight for my rights. The rights that Nike didn’t protect. Nike is paying outside lawyers to do damage control — a cost to their bottom line, and a cost to what they claim to stand for. That’s the price of ignoring the truth instead of addressing it.

What ever happened to “do the right thing”? Instead, it’s “know the right people.”
I documented everything. I stood up for myself. And the truth doesn’t lie — even if it takes a judge, jury and a courtroom to prove it. I won’t back down. That’s what Nike wants all of you to do. Don’t be weak!

To anyone inside this culture reading this: not speaking up is also part of the problem. I know it’s scary. I know the odds can feel stacked against you. Do it scared. Report it anonymously if you have to. Go to the EEOC when the internal channels fail you — because they will.

One complaint is easy to bury (mine is not buried) But if enough of you are willing to be vulnerable and speak up, the EEOC will see the trend. Patterns are harder to dismiss than individuals. That’s how systemic problems get proven — not by one voice, but by many pointing at the same thing.

And stop expecting Nike to do the right thing on its own. They’ve already shown you they won’t. That’s not an expectation you should be holding onto anymore. This isn’t about fairness — life isn’t fair, and I’ve stopped waiting for it to be. It’s about something more basic: the right to work in an environment free of hostility, where you aren’t being discriminated against or retaliated against for telling the truth. That’s not too much to ask for. It’s the bare minimum. How low can Nike go?

EH knows this is systemic. TH knows. LT knows. RL knows.

I’m one person. But this toxic culture has become the norm, and it is not okay. I’ll keep fighting until justice is served — because I did the right thing and I don’t have to stay silent about it anymore.

Just do it. Speak up. I see you!

Hey all.

Anyone else get an email today saying they were "randomly selected" (one of 5000) to take this "GPTW" survey? Perhaps not so coincidentally, it's arriving on 8/14 and is due to be completed 8/28. They say it's "voluntary" and "confidential," but we all know how that second thing goes. 😂 Any thoughts? Should I bother?

Although my time was short with Discover/Crapital One, I have come to believe that it was a blessing in disguise! Not living day to day in a toxic environment where management lies and you wait for the hatchet any minute and knowing you are a hardworking, valuable employee, is a blessing. I hope the best for the good folks they "Crapped" on this week. Regarding the severance - take the money and run! They have surely already crafted your job posting for LinkedIn, and possibly interviewed your much younger, less costly, on-site, replacement! Crapital One is just that - One Cr-ppy Company that does not care about any employees...

EH is destroying this place, and nobody seems to give a damn outside of us, since we're the only ones truly affected by it. We have to do more work, we have to deal with lost benefits, we have to handle the increasingly toxic culture. I don't know how much longer I can take it.