Anyone else feel a little weird and down that these events are still going on when mass layoffs are being conducted? These events are suppose to be fun, but I think there will be tension in the air tomorrow during the Chili Cook Off and on Employee Appreciation Day.
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They have money for that, but not for keeping employees?
You make the company sound like they are empathetic. I was laid off and my last day of work was December 24th. Thanks for the Christmas gift HPE!!!
I see that I'm getting thumbs down on the 90's cookout post but you know that was the absolute truth. We would also have once a year team building retreats at a resort somewhere for a weekend! When I got the job with then HP I felt like I died and went to heaven.
Back in the good old days every Friday we would barbecue steaks and drink beer outside our office building expensed by our managers. Money was flowing and everyone enjoyed their job. Now all I hear from employees is opposite from what I witnessed back than. So glad I am retired from this lack luster of a company that towards the end did not give us any incentives and hope…….
You're missing the obvious point. That point being: HPE APPRECIATES you whether you're still here or today is your last day!!!
Back in the 90's we would have happy hour cookouts after work every Friday. They'd rollout the beer and wine cart and we would eat, drink and have a great time with our co-workers. Then we would drunk drive home in our company vehicles. Those were the days!
Less and less chili cookers and less and less participants. It’s honestly awkward if you expect your buddies to be there but they’re not because you found out that they left HPE and you’re walking around alone. You might bump into your former manager, someone you see frequently when you go to the bathroom, or someone you haven’t seen in like five years when you two were working on a single project together that one time. You awkwardly confront this acquaintance, ask what organization they belong to and probably a project you work on, and that’s probably the extent of that conversation. From a distance, you see a large cesspool of humans cluttering together… and oh? The CEO arrives. The 5 foot 5 inch Antonio Neri makes his appearance. Later on you lose track of your favorite chili you’ve tried so far. It’s not like you can get a small bowl of it anyways. Just a plastic spoons full. At this point, you’ve tried chilis that are amazing, lack flavor, tastes sweet, tastes watery, too spicy, too many spices, and someone just had to make vegan chili. You skip the contest results for best chili. You go back to your desk alone. You won’t see that colleague until next year.
One of the reasons we have WFRs is the BS like TAD and chili cook off. Who has the time? I am busy getting product out the door, no time for ERGs or any of this cr-p. If we had more people working rather than being here because it is fun maybe we would be more successful.
I was impacted and tomorrow is my last day. My view is that most people I worked with were fun to be around so I wish them well and enjoy the day. I was treat well by my peers so why wouldn’t I wish them well. It wasn’t up to them who got WFR
It may be the last of these events for a lot of folks so it’s not ackward.
Since the vast, vast majority of employees are keeping their jobs, are they supposed to just sit at their desks and whine and moan? These events have always been stupid but do let us know when everyone is allowed to have chili again.
Someone worked hard to set it up and is trying to get people to have a bit of fun. No control over the timing, so why sh!t on them?
i avoid all of these employee engagements because I work from home. Most days I work through lunch.
No tension at all if you don't attend just boycott the event.