In my almost 20+ yrs with this company, I am now convinced it is not what you know, but who you know. The company is full of painfully unqualified leaders who are driving us to the ground. The toxicity is so unhealthy people are just trying to survive and do so by backstabbing each other. One thing I find very disgusting is to see people shamelessly flirting with leaders to be in good graces with them to keep their jobs or get ahead. Get out while you can, this isn’t worth anyone’s mental health and sanity. This isn’t the company it once was. It’s a toxic boys club supported by equally toxic women.
29 replies (most recent on top)
@2gh ID&E is so bad that HR filters which candidate you get to interview. I’ve seen it and I’ve seen the unqualified candidates.
It doesn't matter if middle management is full of DEI when the white folks on top keep making terrible decision. S*** flows down from the top. The best you can do at lower management is make it into a sandwich.
@29n Facts....just another -ism that should be discouraged and shamed but this discrimination is not only allowed but cheered by the unmeritorious and encouraged by the corrupt or those suffering from sui-idal empathy.
😂 boys club??? GTFOH. There is a literal quota for women and minorities in leadership. Yes Geoff Martha is a white male. He is one person. Look at middle management. Look at your required goals. 1/4 of your goals are tied to DEI initiatives. How does that drive business?
@173 Canada is looking for help work
I can’t believe people are blaming ERGs and POC while GM and his buddies are running the company into the ground. They are truly lost the plot.
@q3 curious which OU you’re talking about. I have a couple guesses…
How was that post racist? Projection much? No wonder this company is going downhill
@10q racists like you are why the company is going down the tubes
I have so many examples of a while male getting promoted over women and people of color happening in my time in this company. But sure, keep believing the lies.
@hc I have so many examples of this happening in my short time on this ship. It is laughable pretend otherwise. Down vote all you like and it doesn't change the reality! I so often hear what does this person do or why is this person here when so and so was riffed. I don't know is the polite answer but the real answer is not allowed to even be whispered in the halls! Just look at the down votes when it is said!
@fk This is 100% true. Just try and recommend an intern, promotion or hire that is up against check boxes. The question always comes back what about this person or that person. The this and that is never NOT a checkbox. And when you provide measurable objective evidence why they are not the worthy you get "But are they good enough or are they trainable!". It is such an insult so why waste time and effort vetting anyone when the checkbox is the decision qualifier.
@y7 This one is brainwashed beyond the point of return
@wa
Exactly this! I bet it’s one of GM’s buddies on here trying to divide us by saying it’s POC, DEI, CRT, etc fault not our leaders poor decisions and greediness.
I have to agree about the toxic culture. I’ve been there since 2003 and it’s a shadow of the company it used to be. Profit and timeline are king. They give lip service to the rest but it doesn’t really matter to the “leaders”. We had layoffs a month ago and this week a cohort of “leaders” are on a week training trip to Malaysia. Completely tone deaf. Geoff was complaining about the cost of sushi last week. Dough bag.
@OP this is what Medtronic gets when they hire people that bring their politics, activism and feelings into the workplace.
@OP
Sad that this is the reality of the company. My OU has become the boys’ club of excellence, with sales and marketing leading the way, marketing especially.
People are tired of the colorful language, cringe-worthy inside jokes, and obvious favoritism, but apparently it is easier for leadership and HR to look the other way. Despite multiple complaints, the boys’ club only seems to be getting stronger. The legacy middle managers have adopted the new marketing leader’s language and vocabulary in what looks like a desperate attempt to win his approval. Truly pathetic. And for the record, walking into the office bragging about being hungover is not the leadership flex they seem to think it is. Every interaction makes me miss the old management team, which says a lot because they had many blind spots. Somehow, we went from having professional adults in charge to this embarrassing display of juvenile behavior.
@j9 Again, wrong. I was not let go. Seems you like to make stuff up in your head.
Clearly you don't understand you were let go based on performance. You spend so much time hating DEI that you forget to do your own work.
@fa You can’t see that you are wrong because you tie your identity to the DEI principles. DEI absolutely has an affect on layoffs (alphabet people are last on the list to consider for RIF), failure (not in all cases but when POC/DEI hires are placed in/promoted into roles they are not qualified/ready for, failure is imminent). But don’t fear, the rest of us get to rescue the project. But guess who still gets recognized?
Clearly, you haven’t been personally impacted by the ERG privilege… yet.
Your comment about bad decisions by leadership are spot on, however.
@fk Just look at the school pictures on the walls in Mounds View
Will preface this by saying the comments about white people being a minority or lamenting the struggle of white men are very cringy.
But MDT favors hiring women to such an extent it’s astonishing. Look at the intern pools. Consistently >75% women despite the undergrad population (comp sci, ME, EE, etc) being >80% men. The goal of hitting 50% women in management positions with zero care for whether it’s representative of the actual candidate pool is crazy.
@en cry me a river. White males are not the minority. The entire board is made up of white males, males of different backgrounds, white women.
So stop spreading your bs. DEI has nothing to do with company layoffs and failure. It's used as an escape goat. I'm sick of people who are supposed to be educated and working for a global company being straight up racist.
The company is failing because wrong decisions are made and greed is normalised by company top level people. It's not due to erg programmes or the company at lower level is diverse
Grow the heck up.
It's all performative. Just look at all the white males at higher positions.
Speaking of ERG's, I've noticed a decrease in the lunch paid for parties and after hour meet and greets as budget cuts are all controlled by MDT. Wonder if we see less now that the younger Robotics kids were RIF'd and corporate reality has been seen and felt by the 30 somethings. Hello 2027 !
@cn Since When? It may not be as in our face as it was prior to 2025 but it’s still there. Managers and above still have the IDE bs in their goals which means WE all have to play the stupid games.
It’s because Medtronic stop caring about ERGs and I&DE incentive
No lies here! Apparently bad leadership is the strongest team-building program we got.
One thing I've learned from 20year surviving at MDT while being outside the true inter circles is easy. Treat management (senior and above) as a Fraternity, motorcycle club or whatever. Be the hang rounder, just that guy/gal. Never officially a real member. But they know who you are, trusted to get your job done and never cause a problem for them and most important, always a useful asset if needed. And YES, they need you, but you know the real game, they don't. Your there to get a paycheck and you go home at night and forget about the place,
Just my thoughts