#worklifebalance

Everyone is on edge, wringing their hands hoping that all will be well in regards to their employment.

Lots of naysayers out there. Lots off people who desperately try to sell that its not use to look for jobs elsewhere. Lots of people who try to tell you that if someone got let go “it must be because they got a deserved 4 rating”.

While both can be true, neither is exclusively always true.

The one thing that I know for sure 100% is that you are guaranteed to NEVER find a job outside of Citi if you don’t start looking. Many don’t want to take the leap out of fear of starting over and having to prove themselves. Ok, then all the stress you get from Citi going forward will be forever shackled to you. If you don’t like your world then change your world. Easy, no. Quick, usually not. Impossible, absolutely not. Worth it, for piece of mind, oh you bet it is.

As one other poster mentioned, many people NEED to believe that if someone got let go its because they were a sustained 4 in all areas for an extended amount of time. They have to believe that so that they can take themselves out of that bucket that it could happen to them. They need to believe that if they do all the right things, they are safe.
The actual truth is much uglier than what they can handle.

Work hard, keep your head down, sharpen your skills. Search externally for jobs and apply. Rinse, repeat until you find something and move on. Keep in mind that Citi wants you to move on. They are taking measures to encourage you to leave. If you survive this round, then congratulations, you get to take up the slack for everyone else. You get more work and with most assuredly shortened deadlines with a higher expectations to never make a mistake. Keep in mind all the while with no increase in pay. Its ok though because it’ll be summed up with “don’t forget about your work life balance” speech. To Citi “work life balance” is that your family needs to be ok with you working all the time.

Waters come in 75th on the happy place to work list and that's only in Boston.in ireland it didn't even make the list.

Verizon CHRO: Retaining Top Talent!!!

Mind blowing: McKinsey, high performers deliver 800% more output than average employees.

Proven tips to retain top talent:

1. Overpay to keep your top performers
2. Make recognition the default
3. Listen to what energizes your team and lean into it
4. Address toxic behavior immediately
5. Be soft on the person and hard on the problem
6. Trust people with as much autonomy as possible
7. Implement meeting-free days
8. Normalize frequent feedback
9. Remove friction to let your top people thrive

The age of pizza parties and ping-pong tables as retention strategies is over.

Use these 9 tips to invest meaningfully in your highest performers and they’ll reinvest in the business tenfold.

When we book travel through DXC’s preferred system, we’re treated to a delightful spectrum of hotel options — everything from “character‑building budget charm” to “I could accidentally spend £1,500 this week and still not find the minibar.”
But the moment you try to claim sustenance expenses, the system suddenly becomes the strictest accountant in the Western Hemisphere. The £50 daily allowance is perfectly reasonable (unless you’re in a capital city, where £50 buys you a coffee and the right to smell someone else’s lunch). Yet submit a meal that’s even 1p over and the system reacts like you’ve attempted financial treason: flashing warnings, red alerts, and a polite suggestion to pay for your own dinner like a naughty schoolchild.
Personally, I rarely hit the daily limit — unless the hotel decides breakfast is an optional luxury, but that’s a separate therapy session. Still, if you’re away for seven nights, that’s £350 total. It would be far more sensible if we could use that flexibly. Some nights you might grab a McDonald’s for under a tenner, and on others you might want to try a decent independent restaurant, or just eat in the hotel without feeling like you’re committing an administrative crime.
Anyway… I realise these are very much first‑world problems. But still — mildly entertaining ones.

What does everyone think of this ridiculous week of career expo training? My only goal at this point is to not lose my job - forget about all of this BS!

The pulse page shows that Carelon global solutions is one of the best place to work in India and Southeast Asia. Totally giving a middle finger to all those that got riffed to offshore work.

Im 2 years away from the magic number 75=years of service + age min 50. Is it worth it to stay at VZ if you have a good opportunity offer with another company?

Will these benefits even be around in the future? Ill be 51 in two years theres no way i can stay here much longer. I heard the pension maxes out at 30 years service.

The U.S. feels like it’s entering the late stage of capitalism.

The cost of living—housing, healthcare, and insurance—has gone through the roof. The government takes50% of your income before you even see your paycheck.

Wages can’t keep up with inflation, which has been over 5% for years. People are getting poorer even while working full-time.

The job market is broken. Entry-level jobs are being outsourced to India, while workers over 50 face constant age discrimination.

The corporate ladder is basically dead.

Corporate culture- What is that? Everyone is toxic af

What’s the point of all this? We are fu---d

Does anyone actually care about people with POT 34? What does this even mean? Feels like it’s a bait to keep the slave treadmill going. My sup. Just gave me few generic next assignments and said it will eventually depend on availability and performance. Then what are YOU doing for me?In the last 5 yrs I have one E, 3O and one OWD. How much more do I need to perform! Am I f*** and should I leave immediately?

The only thing he should’ve been impressed with was the enormous number of calories I managed to consume worth of free food along with the excessively large amount of chips and cookies and candy and bagels and muffins that I managed to smuggle out out of the office in my backpack.

(and yes, for all the trolls who will inevitably jump in here… this means I am a slacker who has never had a “real” job and definitely not just a normal hard-working employee trying to maintain their sense of humor amidst an admittedly shi**y situation.)

Peace out and congratulations to everyone who survived their first week back with their sanity intact.

https://x.com/gothburz/status/2009386221521244406?s=46&t=8PYOIs_oDhf5yp9H30hhiw

Last September I announced mandatory return-to-office.

Five days a week.

I called it a "culture-first initiative."

Culture means presence.

Presence means badge swipes.

Badge swipes mean metrics.

Metrics mean I can prove something to the board.

I don't know what.

But I can prove it.

The announcement went out on a Tuesday.

I sent it from my home office.

In Aspen.

I have an exemption.

"Strategic leaders require location flexibility to maintain global perspective."

I wrote that policy.

HR approved it.

HR approves everything I write.

By Wednesday, 340 employees had updated their LinkedIn status to "Open to Work."

I called it "natural attrition."

Natural attrition means they quit before I had to pay severance.

Very natural.

We lost 47 engineers in the first month.

I told the board it was "alignment correction."

The people who left weren't aligned.

With coming to an office.

That I also don't come to.

But that's different.

I'm strategic.

The office costs $4.2 million per year.

Empty, it was a write-off.

Now it's a "collaboration hub."

I measured collaboration.

Average daily Zoom calls from the office: 7.4 per employee.

They commute 45 minutes.

To take calls they could take from home.

But now they're "present."

Presence is culture.

I've never been more certain of anything.

A senior engineer asked why we couldn't stay remote.

She had metrics.

Productivity was up 23% during remote work.

I said, "Productivity isn't everything."

She asked what else mattered.

I said, "Serendipitous collisions."

She asked how we measure serendipitous collisions.

I said, "You can't. That's what makes them serendipitous."

She stopped asking questions.

Then she stopped showing up.

Then LinkedIn said she's at a company that's "remote-first."

Good luck with that.

They'll learn.

We installed badge tracking software.

It cost $380,000.

It tells me exactly when people arrive.

And when they leave.

And how long they spend in each zone.

I check it every morning.

From home.

The data is fascinating.

Average arrival time: 9:47 AM.

Average departure time: 4:12 PM.

I sent a Slack message.

"Core hours are 9 to 6."

Arrival times shifted to 9:02 AM.

Departure times shifted to 6:01 PM.

Productivity did not change.

But the metrics look better.

Metrics are culture.

We have a "hybrid" option now.

Three days in office.

Mandatory Monday. Mandatory Wednesday. Mandatory Friday.

That's called "hybrid."

Because Tuesday and Thursday are optional.

But there are "anchor meetings" on Tuesday and Thursday.

Attendance is "strongly encouraged."

"Strongly encouraged" means mandatory without the liability.

I learned that from legal.

The head of product asked if he could work from home when his wife had surgery.

I said, "Of course. Family comes first."

Then I said, "But let's revisit your Q4 performance targets."

He came to the office.

His wife understood.

I assume.

I didn't ask.

That's personal.

The CFO asked about ROI on the RTO policy.

I showed him the badge data.

"Presence is up 340%."

He asked if revenue was up.

I said, "Revenue is a lagging indicator."

He asked what the leading indicator was.

I said, "Badge swipes."

He nodded.

The lease renews next year.

Seven more years.

$29 million committed.

We needed bodies in the building.

Now we have bodies.

Fewer than before.

But present.

Morale is down.

Glassdoor says we're "hostile to work-life balance."

I told HR to respond.

They wrote, "We're a high-performance culture that values in-person collaboration."

That's corporate for "the review is accurate."

But it sounds like a rebuttal.

The CEO asked if RTO was working.

I said, "Absolutely."

He asked for evidence.

I showed him a photo of the office.

Full desks. Glowing monitors. Bodies in chairs.

He smiled.

"This is what culture looks like."

It looked like a stock photo.

Because I got it from a stock photo website.

The real office has 40% occupancy on a good day.

But he doesn't know that.

He's also remote.

We're both strategic.

Next quarter I'm proposing a "collaboration bonus."

$2,000 for anyone with 95% badge-in compliance.

The bonus costs less than the turnover.

And it shifts the narrative.

We're not forcing people to come in.

We're "incentivizing presence."

Incentivizing means paying people to do something they don't want to do.

It's different from mandating.

Legally.

The employees who stayed are "loyal."

Loyalty means they have mortgages.

And kids in school districts.

And RSUs that haven't vested.

They're not loyal.

They're trapped.

But on paper, it looks like loyalty.

And paper is what the board sees.

I've been doing this for 22 years.

I know what culture looks like.

It looks like butts in seats.

Butts in seats mean control.

Control means management.

Management means me.

RTO isn't about productivity.

It never was.

It's about seeing people.

So I know they exist.

So I know they're working.

So I know I'm in charge.

That's culture.

As long as the badge swipes go up and to the right.

You can build all the offices you want. The workforce you’re trying to force into them doesn’t want them.

Five day RTO is not culture. It’s wasted time, wasted money, and wasted talent. People commute for hours just to sit on video calls they could do better from home. There is no productivity upside and no data to support it.

The market has already moved on. Over 80 percent of companies offer hybrid or remote work. Younger talent will not choose a dinosaur policy when better pay, flexibility, and trust exist everywhere else.

As older workers retire, you’re forcing out the next generation before they ever commit. That’s not strategy. It’s self sabotage. Keep spending billions on offices no one wants while the talent pipeline walks out the door.

Welp, looks like another ‘rules for thee, not for me.’

‘Select’ leaders will have assigned spaces for ‘business continuity’

It would be bad to give them a widdle inconvenience. Poor babies.

I talked to someone at UP on another platform and was told seniority with UP only determined your shift and off days. Management will line up individuals on any job they want to and seniority does not matter.

For workers in white-collar fields like tech, consulting, and media, it's an especially weird moment — fewer layoff headlines, but still difficult conditions when it comes to landing a new job. The larger companies may be done cutting for the moment, but they're not ready to rehire aggressively in the parts of the economy that tend to drive long-term productivity and wage growth.

https://qz.com/why-fewer-layoffs-dont-mean-healthier-job-market

Hard to believe how much things have changed. What used to be a busy, collaborative place now feels like a complete ghost town. Empty floors, no energy, barely anyone around. It honestly feels like The Walking Dead, people just showing up, wandering around, and ki-ling time.

There’s not much actual work happening here anymore. Teams are gone or spread out, roles eliminated, and a lot of the real work seems to have moved elsewhere or just disappeared. So what exactly is the point of RTO when you come in and there’s nothing to do?

Curious if others are seeing the same thing. Is this just a slow fade until the site eventually shuts down?

I’m really struggling to adjust to the no assigned seating. It’s really awful and a big downgrade to my quality of work life.

This + 4 days in office has me seeking new jobs away from Chevron.

But I guess that’s what the wanted

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”

• Desmond Tutu

Officially open to work

Workplace Excellence weeks have been removed from the calendar for 2026. That means you have to be in office 3 days a week even during holiday weeks.

To be ready for a layoff, I offer a few items. I expect more may come in the replies.

1. If you need income from a job, should should be trying NOW to find one. It’s way easier to get hired when you still have active employment on your resume.

2. Save contact information for co-workers. After you are gone, you will have difficulty connecting with them if you don’t get the contact info in advance.

3. Decide if severance is worth losing the option to sue Xerox. Since severance varies and may change soon, this one is up to individual circumstances. Before signing a general release, consider this.

4. Begin monitoring the HR policy regarding severance. It’s very likely that
   this may adjust downward. If you see it, it gives time to think before you are IRIFed. For example, #3.

5. If you used your Xerox.com (or Lex whatever) email address for personal use such as password recovery, change it. You don’t want to forget a password in the future and then realize you used a business email for recovery that you no longer have access to.

6. Take advantage of unused health insurance entitlements before they disappear.

7. Understand that health insurance continuance is an option, but WAY more expensive. For me in the US, cost was 5X.

8. Clean your desk so that is you are walked out, all your personal things are already gone or fit into a box you can take when you are escorted out.

9. Remember you may have employee discounts that may expire after you are gone.

Any more?

We made it through another year, but I hate what this company has become. Biweekly check-ins with inexperienced managers who now get to define your worth. Verint installed on our laptops, where five minutes of inactivity is enough to trigger a flag. Quality metrics attached to every single employee.

There was a time when working hard and being productive actually meant something. Now, every action is scrutinized. The good employees have become the problem, while inexperienced new hires are pushed through boot camps that teach them the wrong way to do the job. Then they’re sent to us with questions, and we’re expected to train them on top of everything else.

The place is a mess. At this point, I’m just counting the days until retirement—or a layoff.

Considering moving from Wells to BOFA. Is there any talk of going from 3 days in-office to 4 or 5? Or is there a required # of hours per day you need to be in office? What else should I know?

I’m doing a ok job. My boss thinks I’m not doing enough but I try my best. I make mistakes sometimes but nothing serious. I think my boss is trying to get me fired. Can I get fired for this?

Have been at Nike for 1 year only I beg you all please don't write anything negative on thisnpost.... Send me positive thoughts. OK, so it has been quite sometime that my higher manager has been casually discussing converting my role to an IC role paid by hour!!!! That means saying goodbye to my health insurance, and monthly stability as my income would be based on whatever number of hours I will be needed.....
I am freaking out! I am a single mom with3 kids.... Now all of a sudden I got an email that my manager wants to speak to me about this transition to IC tomorrow... It is decided... what if it is just for one or 2 months until I finish my current workload and then suddenly there will be no more hours????¿ please keep me in your prayers tonight and yes I am so lonely I did not have anyone else to turn to to vent...

To: My Valued Cost-Centers (Employees),

​Happy New Year! As I sit here in my climate-controlled, triple-glazed corner suite, watching the sunrise over the yacht club, I couldn't help but feel a fleeting sense of warmth—though that may have just been the heated massage function on my Italian leather chair.

​2026 is the year of Synergy, Sacrifice, and Shareholder Supremacy.

​The Triumph of the Office Return
I want to personally congratulate those of you who have successfully navigated the commute to join us in the office at least 3 days a week. Seeing you all hunched over your laptops, participating in Teams meetings with the person sitting three feet away, truly warms my heart. It’s that "water cooler magic" we talked about—even if the water cooler was removed to make room for another row of unassigned lockers.

​I’m aware that some of you have complained about the Hot-Desking Lottery. Look at it as a daily adventure! Will you find a desk with a working monitor today? Or will you spend your morning playing "musical chairs" with a tangled nest of broken HDMI cables? If you find yourself working from the broom closet again, just remember: it’s not a "broom closet," it’s a Cozy Collaboration Pod™.

​Efficiency: Our North Star
​While you are busy creating value for our institutional investors, I have been busy ideating. To ensure we are squeezing every drop of "lemonade" out of our human capital, I am thrilled to announce several Employee Wellness & Productivity Initiatives for Q1:
​Bio-Break Benchmarking: We’ve noticed a slight dip in keystrokes during mid-morning. To help you stay on track, we are installing "Smart-Flush" sensors. If a restroom visit exceeds the mandated 120-second "Standard Relief Window," an automated alert will be sent to your manager to discuss your time-management skills.

​The "Big Wael" Policy: In the spirit of your favorite office slang, we’re aiming for maximum efficiency in all... movements. If you’re going to "take a Big Wael," please ensure you’ve pre-filed a "Functional Downtime" request. We wouldn't want your lack of productivity to be as disappointing as a stagnant stock price.

​Oxygen Optimization: Studies show that humans exhale carbon dioxide, which is bad for the environment (and our ESG score). We are considering a "Breath-Per-Minute" tax to encourage calm, shallow, and highly efficient respiration while at your desks.

​Vertical Desking: Why sit or stand when you can lean? We are replacing chairs with 75-degree padded planks to ensure no one gets too comfortable. Comfort is the enemy of the 52-week high.

​Looking Ahead
​Remember, every time you struggle to find a functional mouse or spend 45 minutes looking for a stapler, a shareholder somewhere gets their wings (or a slightly larger dividend). You aren't just "employees"; you are the fuel we burn to reach the moon.

​Now, stop reading this and get back to your Teams call. I can see your "Active" status flickering from here.

​In Solidarity (With the Board),
​The CEO

“I hope you spent Christmas and New Year thinking about work and not enjoying yourselves.

It is your duty to work harder and longer hours for the company, we own you and you will obey.

Do not expect any acknowledgement for doing a good job or going beyond, it is the minimum requirement we expect from you.

There will be no raises in 2026, if you have a variable income we will find any way possible to minimise any bonus or commissions due to you.

Happy New Year ( although it won’t actually be happy, as we will be laying lots of you off ).”

Hybrid Creep ! We had WFH. We had RTO. Now, meet "hybrid creep," - The idea is that a combination of carrots and sticks will encourage people to gradually increase their in-office time without explicitly telling them to do so. That means tactics like basing promotions on office attendance, or increasing surveillance of employees or Increasing layoffs.
There’s a meaningful difference between saying “we believe we’re better together” and secretly counting phones in a building.

• One is a point of view, whether it’s right or wrong.
• The other is surveillance dressed up as management.
  Don’t be surprised if corporate culture collapses when leaders stop trusting adults to behave like adults.
  The combination of factors seems to be working: Office attendance rates are rising steadily, even as many firms take a step back from mandates.
  https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/workplace/hybrid-work-return-to-office-creep-af5a62b5

I am seeking clarification on several concerning rumors circulating internally.
It has been stated that Infinite employees are not required to work overtime. Is this accurate? If Professional Services Teams have been transitioned to Infinite, what teams are now expected to cover these additional hours?
There are also rumors that these employees who travel onsite to banks will have their corporate cards revoked, requiring them to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket and wait for reimbursement. This would create a significant financial burden regardless of how fast the reimbursement. How are these employees expected to operate under these conditions, given the realities of today’s economy?

Never not met my 40 hrs, wondering if this is really that serious?

Due to the huge losses on the Ford Lightening, Ford needs to cut office facilities expenses. Ford's turning the building heat off for the remainder of the Winter in the Train Station office.

The hybrid model was amazing. Assigned or unassigned offices the hybrid was still better. There is no logical reason to go more days than 3 per week. I find the change to be very disappointing. My days at home were days to get things done and I didn’t dread getting up before 5 am to go into the office. I could get up at 7 and go right into the office. Back to the dread on Sundays again. Ugggh!

The holiday break gave time for me to see how really bad it can be working at Boeing. I worked in three different Boeing groups last year and the common denominator was toxic.
Nobody in any of these groups I worked in, seemed happy to work at Boeing. There was zero trust among co-workers in all these groups. The older guys always had a target on their backs. Lots of people rather see others fail, thinking it benefitted them.
So, I'm putting in my one week notice on Monday.

That Brian gets another 28% raise. He really needs it. I'm cool with being overlooked for any merit increases or standard of living adjustment. Brian's well being means too much for me to accept anything less for him.

Can we still use a 1/2 day PTO to count as an 8 hour day in the office? Or do we have to go in for 4 hours? I am not complaining, asking a genuine question since my direct doesn’t know the answer.

I’m willing to take almost any other job, even one that pays less, just to be able to leave this place. Five years here have felt like ten anywhere else.

For the past decade, each year has been progressively worse than the previous one. And 2025 was already really, really bad. I don't dare think about what we might expect from this one. I've been praying for a new job, but having zero luck, so I guess I'll be forced to find out anyhow.