#worklifebalance

Did it all get pushed back to accommodate for layoffs and WFH weeks?

Does anyone actually find any value in this process or is it just TD ticking a box?

PORTLAND GUY DAY:

Show up between 930 and 10 as a group. Almost everyone wearing sunglasses in the office like complete tools.

Immediately take a coffee break in the Cafe with the entire group until 1015-1030.

Take an hour lunch 12-1.

Leave between 2-3 PM.

Curious has anyone been around long enough to remember the last time corporate gave the employees some good news? Feel like its been nothing but bad news the last 10 years. Offices closing, forced moves across the country, returns to office, replaced with people overseas, forced realignments due to corporates unwillingness to staff and retain properly.

Id say the last "good news" was us working from home during COVID, which wasnt exactly good news but maybe the only positive change I've seen in like 15 years. Ok i guess they did the math and so few people were having children they increased maternity benefits like 5 years ago.....

Cant wait for this weeks bad news meeting either way.

Can anyone explain why such high turnover in claims has been acceptable for so long? Assuming they will be moving people from jobs that are not 100% horrible to a claims department that is.

I am the manager of three former ExxonMobil employees:

The first is desperate to please me and shows strong “boss-pleasing” behavior. It’s frustrating because I need him focused on productivity, not on feeding my ego. His results are what matter.

The second reacted strongly when I asked for help moving a table, saying it was a safety risk and refusing to do it.

The third seems to be living in the past. I hear “when I was at ExxonMobil…” at least five times a day.

I’ve started to notice a pattern. Former ExxonMobil employees often seem like they’ve gone through some kind of conditioning and struggle to behave normally in a different environment.

I don’t know what the company is doing to its employees, but it feels intense. They all come across as somewhat distressed, almost like they’ve developed an obsessive or overly rigid mindset.

I’m not sure what to do. They seem like capable employees, but their behavior is unusual, and I don’t want to fire them.

Any ideas on how to “reverse” the ExxonMobil effect?

P.S. They all say they left due to strategic changes, like departments being moved to other countries, not because of performance issues.

There's clearly a willing contingent that would instantly take them up on it.

Instead they choose to sever people who might really need the job, throwing them into the crocodile pit of the current job market.

Or they push to make working conditions annoying enough that people who have options voluntarily leave (this part of it makes zero sense to me, these are typically the people you can least afford to lose).

Meanwhile the people who stay are made increasingly miserable, both as a result of the voluntary attrition measures, as well as having to operate for years in an environment with zero job security and no end to the layoffs in sight.

How is any of this better than just yanking the bandaid off, and letting workers have a hand in their own fate?

It feels very "the cruelty is the point" to me

Does anyone know how many sick days per year employees in the US get ? If unused, do sick days accumulate ? If so, does it accumulate to a max number of days ?

Its not clear to me on walgreens tolerance on people working a second job in parrelel. Also is any one doing it?

Personally would rather have a back up in case I get fired 💀

I’m told I can’t have my phone out at my desk even if it’s just to pull it out and turn on music while I work.

Meanwhile, the people who sit in the next row over talk all day and it’s so distracting. I have no idea how to get anything done. And I have people from other areas walking over to them all day long as well and all these people talk about are their lunch plans and then complain about their peers at other sites.

I need to put my AirPods in and listen to something that helps me stay focused- the way I see it. I’ll get fired either way… either from pulling my phone out to turn on Spotify or because my work is not as productive as it used to be because of these geniuses that sit around me who have zero respect for others.

So I’m guessing the bank went back to assigned seating? I’ve been out on sabbatical and just returned to our new space, but all of the seats appear to be assigned and I have no idea where I should randomly sit.

It doesn’t feel good to start my day like this every morning, trying to search for a place to sit that isn’t near the break room. But I’m told all the other spaces are neighborhoods. I can’t continue to take calls from a desk next to the break room so people keep asking me to go on mute because I hear all the noise, but then I have to forget to go off mute to start talking and lose my opportunities to speak up. This is ridiculous.

Those teams sitting in a neighborhood who are not on the phone all day. Need to have their dedicated seating over here. I don’t know how they got away with giving them the prime seats.. but I can’t continue working like this and I will be figuring out a way to work from home if this continues.

• Jacksonville, Florida

Are people really in the office 5 days a week or is there flexibility/WFH allowed?

Apparently, a family member having a medical emergency that requires someone to be present isn't a valid reason for a remote work exception! I learned my lesson, I'll just call off sick instead of giving a damn about this sc-mmy org.

Why the he-l does workday never actually work. I have to click the buttons 16 times for it to take me to the time off section

What’s up with word floating around that the in office requirement is being updated to 9 hours for the day to count?

It felt like I was signing divorce papers from a bad marriage. I'm very glad to be out of that company. The max severance package and unemployment are like having a hot girl say she just wants to hang out with you after your divorce but nothing serious, just casual fun. After that, retirement and traveling around with the actual love of my life. I ran the numbers, it's like getting a ~$100K payout into retirement. I'll happily take this over a retirement card and going away gift at a pizza party.

Assuming more layoffs are to come, and if and you're in a similar time in your life, I highly recommend trying to manage the last days of your career aiming for a layoff rather than announcing a retirement date. If I would have told them I was retiring in May, I don't think I would have been laid off, so keep that info to yourself. Don't tell a soul because it WILL get out if you do, and that could be a very costly mistake.

Copy and paste link below to view post. Don't accept "NO".

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7427118095061819392/?commentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A%28activity%3A7427118095061819392%2C7447726858751746048%29&dashCommentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd_comment%3A%287447726858751746048%2Curn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7427118095061819392%29

Historically, it’s always been a professional courtesy to give two weeks notice before leaving. However, as recent layoffs have shown, companies are giving no notice (Oracle). This has and will become the norm. And before someone says, well it’s courtesy to your colleagues, just remember that it comes at a cost to you and your family for being nice.

So with that said, why continue this legacy practice of giving two weeks notice? Again, if it helps the employee pack up and wrap up, sure. But otherwise, I think it’s time to reevaluate the practice. Just because society followed the same rule for so long doesn’t mean it’s correct in today’s AI world.

Love to hear your thoughts, including how you would advise your own kids if they were in the situation.

Nobody's exactly clinging to this place. A voluntary package would have takers, lots of them.

They've got us stressed out constantly. No breaks, no rest, no relief. This company has completely taken over our lives.

I used to stay late learning new skills. Used to take on extra projects to grow. Then I watched three people who did exactly that get laid off anyway. Now my full potential is doing my job well enough to not get noticed, because getting noticed here isn't safe anymore.

There's no rock bottom here. There's always one step lower to go.

I keep hearing management say we're now "leaner and stronger." Leaner for sure. Stronger? Ask me after I've slept through a full night without worrying about my inbox.

We can't go on like this forever. There has to be an end to layoffs. Are we supposed to stress over potentially losing our jobs for the rest of our working days?

I see people coming into the office before lunch and leave office before 3 pm. Sometimes it makes me wonder if they are really "working." I also see people in their office glue to their work computer for HOURS with the lights OFF = ALL of them were SAFE on this round. Maybe we should follow their pattern to survive

Where or What is your worth?
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https://experteditor.com.au/blog/d-bt-i-worked-for-thirty-eight-years-and-when-i-finally-stopped-i-sat-in-my-kitchen-on-a-monday-morning-with-nowhere-to-be-and-cried-not-because-i-missed-the-job-but-because-i-realized-the-job-was-the/

It's actually mind boggling. Those who can find another job more easily always leave first. Most attrition drives end up disproportionately shedding talent and skill.

Do managers also have to work the full eight hours in the office? I’ve noticed that some mid-level managers spend less than eight hours there.

It’s getting ridiculous!

There’s a poll floating around what’s the worst job at Dell? Not lowest pay just the most thankless, grind it out, low impact role. The one nobody really wants to admit they’ve had.

Anyone else still just going to do the 3 days in and roll the dice and see what happens

8 hours for today -- 40 hours for the week. The market says my time is more valuable spent elsewhere. You guys have a great weekend.

The higher ups are such unethical liars. Look at a calendar, if you worked in office Monday-Wednesday, that would give you 9 working days in February. New requirements are 12. You would need to work 4 days for 3 weeks of the month to be compliant.

Even 11 days didn't fit February, but at least it averaged out in other months. But now it's 12 and But other months are 13/14 days required it's even worse.

Hybrid is all but an illusion now. Unethical liars.

Working? As soon as that daily Teams call wraps up, I’m already mentally checked out. Got the grill going, burgers and ribs cooking low and slow, just enjoying the smell drifting through the yard. I’m kicking back with a controller.
Fridays are quiet anyway. My manager doesn’t bother anyone so I figure there’s no reason to do anything. Good food, no stress that’s just how a Friday ought to be.

Where does it say what counts as a day in the office? The 4 hours in the faq is NOT for that formula.

What is this nonsensical RTO mandate going to cost you? Is RTO really all about foot traffic to justify the real estate investment? Are we secretly being used as pawns but told its for culture and collaboration but at the same time becoming a huge monetary and time burden while being reinforced its for the collaboration and growth of employees while at the same time helping the company justify its use of a building just for tax benefits? Like for real I'm facing an added $2500-$3000 in expenses every month as a result of this RTO mandate. The office I've been assigned to is over an hour away without traffic. So in a perfect world I am losing at least 10 hours per week in commute times. I actually expect this number to be about 22 hours/week based on our traffic. This is not work life balance. But hey at least that 1.5% raise I was GIVEN should cover the costs. I felt I should have EARNED more after exceeding all expectations again but I guess you get what they give you since performance and attendance mean nothing apparently. Would've been cool to get a 30% compensation boost like CEO.

Also I must point out there has been zero follow-up to Bill's email from mid January. The latest ethics and culture survey asks nothing about RTO.

I am the only one from my team in this state. What can I do in the office that cannot be done from a remote location? Besides playing workspace roulette when trying to find a quiet area to handle 5-7 hours of calls per day. I've tried to look at this from different angles but I can't get past this idea that the property valuations have been blamed on us and because of that we are being required to RTO 5 days/week to justify the use of a building. They do not care about the time, money, and tax burden this is causing thousands of employees because when you're worth tens of millions these burdens don't influence you or your decisions.

People leaving adds more pressure on the people who stay. Vacant positions aren't being fulfilled as quickly because of this RTO decision. Talent goes out the door. We have to work more hours. We have to spend more time and money. We have to train and onboard new people and hope they don't abandon ship or get pulled to a different team. This is a lose-lose scenario for tens of thousands of us.

Based on the previous goal of 11 days, we needed 132 days in office a year. To hit over 60% we now need 158 days. But, that doesn't include PTO, right? In order to get a month to require 11 days it needs to have 18 eligible days. Based on the maximum number of days each month, you'll need 34 PTO days to get back to 11 per month. Best of luck!

Why do people act like working at Truist is their life’s purpose? It’s not. It’s a job. Check the box. Collect the paycheck. That’s the endgame. Your “team” is just a bunch of strangers you’d never know or interact with if survival didn’t force it.

Meanwhile, in places like France, people actually get it: grinding at work is not something to brag about. Hard work is overrated. So stop worshipping Truist like it's holy!

That’s why I watch the Masters on company time.

There is absolutely no reason to go above and beyond.
If you want more money, switch jobs.
If you want more time and freedom, quiet quit.
Cisco seems to be unable to distinguish between overachievers and people who put in 10 hour weeks by clicking the right buttons at the right times.
Whats the point of taking on more than you can get away with ?