Lots of IT people cut in Columbus
2665 replies (most recent on top)
I motion for the first Monday of June on all future AEP calendars to be memorialized as "The Eternal Monday" in honor of our noble sacrifice and all those we lost to Villainous Bill's maniacal tyranny.
These days are interminable. I can’t believe we are back to doing this.
Day two, hardly anyone around. Seems like managers are here, maybe they're covering for their people. I see people online so maybe the RTO has a side effect of making people available on Teams more often than before RTO.
The guy who brought up the city tax issue, I would be willing to pay city income tax if it meant that I didn't have to drive in. I'd save on wear and tear on the car, lunch, time and time. My time is the most valuable because I can't replace it once it's gone. So yes, sign me up for Columbus income tax and let me WFH.
Definitely feels like a punishment from Bill
Yeah this is really stupid. 3 days in office was fair and more than enough to schedule anything that could benefit from any in-person collaboration. This just feels like a pointless punishment.
Spent 2 hours on a teams meeting with a coworker a few cubes down from me. I'm not getting up unless it's for coffee, a peeee break, more coffee and to leave.
RTO today??? Yeah right, transmission isn’t reporting to the office because the buildings aren’t ready. What a joke
Did anyone update Columbus Emergency Services about RTO? Did anyone provide current staffing numbers so they could plan for the appropriate level of response in an emergency? It would not look good, if their was an emergency and we tied up an excessive amount of emergency resources because they responded to out of date staffing levels. Hope all those parking garage emergency exits are not locked down on the previously unused levels.
Happy everyone is back in the office!! Hope dividends improve! Time for you all to get to work!
- excited investor
I left AEP back in May after over 10 years and let me tell you.. It was the best decision I ever made. Go find that new job. You deserve better.
Knew it was going to be an interesting day....starting with badges not working for the attached parking garage even though the badge shows it has access.....
Then you plug your laptop into the dock and the ethernet doesn't work and you barely move the docking station and your cords fall out of the display port....
Exterior windows look like they haven't been washed since pre-covid....
At least IT and Telecom got the ethernet fixed pretty quickly on our floor...
It seemed like our floor was more than half empty and the attached garage seemed like it barely had any cars....was today really the first day back or have that many people quit?
Now that everyone is back in the office it is time for you to collaborate how you are going to collectively protect yourselves from future abuses by corporate.
Is the building up to code?
Are there any health code violations?
Have the HVAC filters been changed?
Could there be asbestos in the missing ceiling tiles?
Are all exits accessible in case of a fire drill?
Are fire extinguishers up to date?
Are AEDs up to date?
Have items in the First Aid kits expired?
Could OSHA shut this office party down?
What about old extension cords?
Has office furniture been sanitized since the pandemic?
Will copiers and printers work or has the toner gone bad?
Any signs of mouse droppings?
Do you know where to assemble in case of an evacuation?
Who is your floor warden in emergencies?
Have all sharp corners on office furniture been rounded or padded?
Are stairwells clear and are the steps covered with traction mats?
Have the window blinds and sills been cleaned?
Are emergency flashlights working?
Do you have a safe space in case of an altercation.
How many items have you stolen from your manager's office without him knowing?
Who has Melton's Swingline red stapler?
Could social anxiety be a medical waiver for RTO?
LOTS of collaboration happening on my floor. The day is only half over and we have already invented a new form of electricity that will make AEP trillions of dollars. This is so incredible...
Bill is a genius
Woohoo it’s only been an hour and half since the day started and it already smells like a mix of sweat, cigarettes and bad breath!
It's pretty impressive that AEP managed to survive for the past 6 years without doing any work. This must be a very resilient company.
It’s finally here. Finally all AEP employees will be in the office working again. Now things will actually get done.
AEP Shareholder
First time at 1RP in almost 6 years. Why didn’t anyone warn us about the barren lobby, tuna colored walkway and ceiling holes? This building is a mess!
@2701 IT also. And it chaps my behind that RTO is happening for anyone. And yes, the IT RTO rumor mill is ripe. I heard the beginning of 2026, but nothing with teeth. I'm curious to see how this week goes, given that there has been little to no proper planning, and some areas are not yet configured for all to return. I want to believe it will be chaos for leadership.
Imagine how awesome it would have been if AEP employees had actually organized and decided we are all refusing to go in. Imagine Bill sitting in his office with a stupefied look on his face when one of his lackeys walks through the door to inform him that all the cubes are empty. Imagine the emergency all-hands meeting that would have popped up on your calendar. Imagine them sputtering and instantly offering concessions to meet us somewhere in the middle.
Oh well, too bad it's just every man for himself.
@26y0 sitting at home right now but then again, I'm in IT. Stinks for the rest of you and I'm not rubbing it in, just stating a fact. I am also assuming we will be back in the office in some form later this year and that's when I'll pull the trigger and retire.
Too old to start over somewhere else but not too old to just up and retire.
I'm not on the longest tenured employees list but I have noticed that list changing a lot lately. Expect more to leave this year with little to no fanfare.
GL to all this morning, keep you head down.
Hope AEP is glad they added gas to our daily expenses, on top of that more safety risks driving to and from work. If one of us gets in a bad wreck, god forbid theyll just make an email about us needing to be more aware to work
@26y0
I think some people will drive in to work.
"Show up" might have a different meaning now, I think.
I'm buying time and openly looking, so yes, I'm driving in. Am I ever putting in slave hours or being online (without being asked for an emergency by a peer) again? NO.
I have seen AEP leadership reward employees on PIPs over role models. Remember that when you sit in your cubicle. Hardwork goes unnoticed poor behavior and work ethic gets you ahead. I have observed, you xont have go like it but it is the truth.
I will never sit in a cubicle again. That’s about as much as I’m going to share.
Are you guys showing up tomorrow? You've certainly talked a lot of sh-t on here. Now the moment of truth has arrived.
👉🏻👈🏻🥺 pls donate 2 the political fund
AEP provides a lot of opportunties. The opportunity to experience favoritism, neopitism, to be exploited, have no growth. Experience self centered leadership, where they lie and retaliate. Experience leaders that have a ticket to the top, no matter with no accountability to their actions, behaviors or results. I hope Bill kicks a lot of those type of leaders out of AEP. They existed before Bill.
Celebrate Ohio RTO Day with a public pillory and invite corporate and the board to have their photos taken for a nominal fee.
Now that is shocking! You mistreat citizens and they unite in opposition to you. If I didn't know better, I would swear we are living in America. Throw something offensive into the Scioto River, call it the Ohio RTO Party.
Part of a citizens group that has successfully worked to get a number of ballot initiatives approved and passed in Ohio. Many people in the group work for companies impacted by RTO, including state employees. Next week we are meeting to discuss a workers rights bill to fight back against the state and companies like AEP, Chase and others who have damaged workers by implementing archaic work policies that are anti-worker, anti-environment and anti-family.
We all decided we’re just not going to take this anymore. The people of Ohio will thankfully have their say on these policies within 12 months, and hopefully other states across the country with ballot initiatives are able to take up similar measures.
Billionaires and their groveling minions refuse to spend their own money to oppress and exploit employees and customers. Give generously to the AEP PAC so they can take more of your freedom and wages while they laugh their as--s off at you, gullible resources. Ignorance is bliss till they clamp the shackles of servitude firmly about your wrists and ankles and tell you, if they wanted you to have a life they would not have denied the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights exist. Welcome to corporate wage slavery, you will get used to arrogance, smugness and belligerence as weight of the chains wears you down. Defy or submit their is no compromise.
Stop emailing me for money. If Daddy Icahn had enough money to buy this board and install you, then you can ask him to pay for the political bsht.
@26qx and I'm sure Columbus and Gahanna have similar deals with companies to reduce property taxes in exchange for employees to bear the burden via income tax. I live outside the city limits so Columbus will now get 2.5% of my income but I will not see a 3% pay increase to cover it. I never go back downtown after work or on the weekends, just not into any of the sport teams or bars. So I will lose over two grand to have the privilege of working downtown. F Columbus and AEP for doing this to us.
The conspiracy of crony corporate capitalism never fails to disgust.
@26qf This is public information and a true fact for the AEP locations in New Albany.
“In New Albany, Ohio, a 15-year, 100% tax abatement is available for new building construction, expansion of existing buildings, or substantial remodeling. The City may also offer growing companies annual, performance-based cash incentives based on payroll withholdings. Ohio Power Company (OPC) at Smith's Mill Road was found to not have met payroll benchmarks in a recent review. The city recommended continuing the agreement with OPC but with conditions including a notice of non-compliance and quarterly meetings”
https://www.franklincountyauditor.com/AUDR-website/media/Documents/Real%20Estate/TIRC%20TOOL/2023/New-Albany-TIRC-Packet-24TY23.pdf
(Refer to page 4)
If AEP doesn’t meet payroll benchmarks, the 100% tax abatement will decrease significantly and/or the city can discontinue the agreement; in which AEP will have to pay the cost of property taxes for all 4 properties.
@26mn part of it has to be the pressure these companies are getting from local governments to get people back into the office to collect income tax. At least in Ohio, CCC cannot collect income tax unless you either work or live in the city. We may not hear about it but I'll bet the Mayors are trying everything they can to get that money. In Columbus, that's $2500 for every $100k of salary, that adds up when 45% of people who work in Columbus don't live in Columbus.
Are you owned by AEP or merely employed by AEP. We are American citizens with rights and freedoms and if you detest the way you are being treated think long and hard about the candidates you vote for in the mid term elections. Next year is the 250th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and we the people are empowered to be the masters of our own destiny. Only what we condone and enable shall remain. If immense wealth is used as a we-pon of mass oppression and exploitation, we the people have the power to strip tyrants of their immense wealth through aggressive and punitive taxation. It is time for the only majority in America to impose their will on their minority tormenters. Abuse the blessings our grace has afforded you, petulant children and we the adults shall take them away,
@26mg That’s true and going through the exact same thing as AEP. Coincidence Ichan was an investor there prior to coming over to AEP?
@26m5 I read on a FirstEnergy TheLayoff.com page that RTO was announced for that company starting July 7.
Low productivity and pointless convos here we come!