7/10 was my last day. I could not commit to another day. I thoroughly enjoyed the first 12 years, the work and coworkers alike. These past 2 years left me angry and without direction. Too many times I saw incompetent leadership decimating what had once been good strong teams. The final straw for me played out over 12 months. RTO for me and a couple of coworkers quickly evolved into 65-70 hour weeks. Every week without fail. We have the same headcount and same work, just fewer people doing the work. Do not kid yourselves. We saw firsthand that 75% of our full-time remote coworkers morphed into a requirement of working only one day a month. That's right, a ghost crew, not a skeleton crew. Manager and Director were of no help because that would have exposed their apathy and incompetence. I was not looking for a position outside of ATT, but was offered a position that is too good to pass up. I start orientation on 8/4 and it looks like one of my coworkers will be joining me. Ten years ago I believed this would be a career home for me. This home is too broken to salvage.
32 replies (most recent on top)
Sad when the lack of work--life balance drives people away
Sounds like it but I doubt it was against ATT.
"Someone was involved in a multi vehicle accident after getting less than 3 hours sleep"
Was this change the result of litigation?
Glad you took ownership of your life and got out. You’ll never regret it. The rest of you, do the same. Save yourself from the SBC sh-t show that is an embarrassment and cluster without equal!
OP, we were putting in 55-60 hours every week for 15 months. Someone was involved in a multi vehicle accident after getting less than 3 hours sleep, and that "extra" time ceased immediately. Now we are given 72 hours notice of any work day planned for longer than 10 hours and we have to attest we've had sufficient rest before exceeding those 10 hours. Feels like they think we are driving trucks. Need a logbook to track your work.
Our team has lost a couple during the past 18 months. I guess this daily grind becomes even more frustrating when you are eligible to retire. Wake up one day and realize leaving is better than staying.
force out and now capping
Oh no, they are making you actually work now. Swines.
Depressing and I've used up all of my vacation days
"left me angry and without direction"
Let it go before it wears you down. Force some work - life balance. I do what I can day to day. I accept that what I see today is the result of incompetent leadership in AT&T. I did not break it, and my next shift begins at 9am on Wednesday.
“Sometimes you have to let the process break in order to move forward”
I say this all the time. Let it fail. Way too many people ki-ling themselves propping up all these bad decisions in order to keep the lights on and the machine running. I see it and hear about it from so many people. The only way this gets better is it has to fail. The terrible leadership hires have to be replaced, the bad decisions need to be exposed, things have to break so they can be fixed, only way that happens is when things fail, welcome it, let it happen. You are doing yourself no favors (though you feel you’re being a great employee), nor are you being compensated or rewarded by holding things up. Let it go.
“I would quit too if I had to RTO and actually work.”
Please! You’d never leave your current ‘dream job’ as bathhouse attendant.
"We saw firsthand that 75% of our full-time remote coworkers morphed into a requirement of working only one day a month"
That they refuse to fire these people and instead terminate Alice for working from home with a sick child tells you everything you need to know about the company. They don't really care who they keep and who they fire. All that matters is the expense budget going down so they can pay the gambling debts of Stephenson and Stankey and enridh themselves by buying back stock. It is going to end badly. Like Worldcom badly.
"evolved into 65-70 hour weeks"
Sometimes you have to let the process break in order to move forward. Inadequate staffing is not your concern. OP became a part of the problem in a poor attempt to make the system work.
why not ask to be put on a list for the next round and leave with dignity and some cash.
I would quit too if I had to RTO and actually work.
Hopefully right behind you. Currently interviewing with a couple FANG companies. Hopefully I get something, but I know those aren’t a lot better, at least they pay more and having that on the resume can write you a ticket anywhere.
"I don't have a dog in this fight but it is shameful if your Board of Directors allow this conduct"
We are experiencing the means to an end. Our BoD settles for $5 when they could have $100, and calls this success. AT&T has been settling in this manner since the late 1980's to early 1990's. It is a creeping disease that has transformed a once great company into a company that should scare the he-l out of investors and customers.
I don't have a dog in this fight but it is shameful if your Board of Directors allow this conduct. You cannot attain the greatest degree of success if you cannot lead workers.
I watched another co-worker leave yesterday. I'm working on it too. I also figured out that quitting & getting fired will leave me in the same position -- no insurance. I'll make them fire me & do next to nothing until I secure a new position.
My chain of command chase their tails all day long. It's complete chaos.
You said:
"Try using one of the AI apps to help your thinking. Make it a tool you can use - ask tons of questions and see what you learn. Trust me, your senior management is already using it and planning to use it more in the future. Make these tools work for you too."
AI is what's wrong with the (new) world (disorder).
It's being touted as being this awesome new tool that everyone should be using, otherwise they'll be left behind. But left behind from what? A dystopian clampdown so suffocating, that every last ounce of one's "life" is tracked, monitored, penalized, fined, corraled, coerced, and forced into compliance...to the point where you literally LOSE all of what makes life actually worth living: FREEDOM!
I love having freedom of thought, movement, speech, and action.
I will NOT encourage, abet, or utilize that which curbs, curtails, or puts conditions of use onto my GOD GIVEN RIGHT to PERSONAL FREEDOM.
I don't need AI apps to "help my thinking." My thinking is A-OK all on its own. You are creepily encouraging other people to give up their autonomy to a hive-mind borg, which does most of a human's thinking for them! That is outrageously insane, and quite evil in intent. Also, your bit about how one's "senior management" is already onboard with AI, so the peons should be too...HA! Anyone with a functioning brain can see where today's "senior managers" are, in terms of actually being even basically competent, much less having what it takes to be admired or respected. Anyone touting AI is to be side-eyed with the utmost of suspicion. AI is dubious at best, and downright evil, at worst.
AI is all about control and surveillance and putting roadblocks and imprisonment onto people. That's nothing to be celebrated or encouraged, unless you're an evil fiend or one of their "useful !diots" who believe you'll be the beneficiary of inflicting evil onto the human race. No one in their right mind, and who values true innovation and personal freedom believes AI is good. AI benefits evil entities, not human individuals. To anyone with a balanced brain, AI is easily recognized as being a severe detriment to all of humankind.
P.S. I never trust anyone who says, "trust me." If you were genuinely trustworthy, you wouldn't have to try to convince others to trust you in the first place.
TLDR. Bye!
"We saw firsthand that 75% of our full-time remote coworkers morphed into a requirement of working only one day a month"
NS! I thought 2 people left the company. Still in Teams but always with the amber "Away" status. No presence on team meetings, no emails, and no evidence of any work for 6? weeks.
Face it, management wats a cheaper work force. The whole RTO was "quit firing" . My attorney told me that they have been doing this for YEARS. They bank on most people being surplussed not finding representation. He pointed out that EVERY one of his clients got seven figure settlements for age discrimination. They are giving people two weeks because they don't want them to find another spot in the company yet month after month they send out new higher notices with there congratulations and look at the names closely, what do you see. People need to be reaching out to their elected leaders and following them on social media pointing out this H1B abuse.
“I may be right behind you.”
You actually won’t.
Spot on. Good for you. I may be right behind you.
Congratulations, take a few of us with you. Open up a short position on T stock while you are at it. This company is headed for complete collapse.
Good on ya, OP. My wife and I want out. There is nothing healthy about this environment.
“ I could not commit to another day.”
That’s precisely what they’re fostering & relishing in. All in the intention to drive folks out “voluntarily” (sans severance).
Best of luck to you.
You just described many, many places. I give 'some' managers a break on the cause of the apathetic mood and how to deal with these people and the situation. People have given up in large numbers and that is a malignant and powerful force to deal with at any level. You can say they've done it to themselves or it has been done to them, but our attitudes have definitely changed for the worse over the years. Maybe we're all just too tired and too jaded to see the abuses differently at the moment. I think that'll change - I really do hope that it'll change because if it doesn't things will just get worse. We all need to accept that we need to learn and think differently nowadays as that's going to be one of the keys to getting out of the mess we're all in. Try using one of the AI apps to help your thinking. Make it a tool you can use - ask tons of questions and see what you learn. Trust me, your senior management is already using it and planning to use it more in the future. Make these tools work for you too.
I think it takes doing what you're doing and that is changing things for yourself instead of waiting for more change to either happen to you or for you. Good Luck.
Good riddance! Now you can go play the victim somewhere else.