Lots of IT people cut in Columbus
2636 replies (most recent on top)
Honestly I would say the last poster is probably why Bill made the decision for us to RTO. You have kid"S" that are under 5 and you are working from home with them there? So WFH allows you to not have a baby sitter.
You're not working, you're babysitting. You are the reason the rest of us have to go back. Thanks.
I started my family during COVID/WFH times. Before that, I figured that when we had kids we would just do the grind like everybody else: drop precious babies off at the crack of dawn, fight soul crushing traffic for an hour, put in a 9-10 hour day, fight traffic for another hour, pick up kids, and get home with barely enough time to eat dinner before bed and doing it all again the next day . And I wasn’t happy about that, but what else was I going to do? It was either that or don’t work. And then Covid happened, and our whole world was shut down. And honestly I wish that none of that had happened . I didnt ask for it, I didn’t choose it. And we were asked to WFH, and we did. And it worked. And I was shocked, honestly, that I could do my job well but not have to sit in traffic for 2 hours every day. And my kids don’t have to be at daycare for 12 hours every day. Except, starting June 1 now they do, and I do. And that is truly a real and devastating loss. And I don’t really care if the high school dropouts and menial laborers on this board want to call me a snowflake for complaining about it.
You know it’s pretty bad when you come here first for headlines and upcoming changes rather than asking leadership because you’re simply tired of the corporate smoke screen and okie doke! At least I know I’m not actually crazy. It is truly as bad as everyone says it is! No amount of plastic positivity is going to be enough.
No one cares how WE feel until the next election cycle and then for a few months they pretend to pay attention. If you don't like the way things are think long and hard about who you vote for in the mid-term elections. Voting for what is in the "Company's" best interest has nothing to do with what is in our best interests. Case and point, RTO after presidential election. The difference between a president and a dictator is not so ambiguous now.
If I get one more email about the AEP PAC I’m going to vomit 🤮
I just want to add to what was said a couple comments below. Why does leadership even compare lineworkers and field teams to office workers? As an office worker, I often open my computer at night and on weekends to catch up with the massive amount of work. I’m salary, not hourly, so I’m not getting OT for that time. If we have to be in the office to make things “fair”, then let’s put the field folks on salary. It’s just all so stupid and not a one size fits all solution.
I’m raking in my checks until I find a better option.
Ask all of linemen and most will have nothing to do with a desk job. There is a sense of freedom away from the office. It's like some people love working 3rd shift because no one is around to bother them about cr-p. WFH is like that as well, you don't have to put up with the garbage at work when in person. When I get my bills and savings to a level where I can live on half of what I make now, I'll just retire early and be done with all of it. I don't need a 3k sqft home on 5 acres, I can live anywhere and then don't get a sh..t what happens to the company.
My pet peeve with all this is how leadership constantly ask us for feedback, yet, nothing is considered. Why even ask? Gaslighting at its best…
Absolutely agree. Managers have a better grasp on what is needed and how things work in their teams. Bill is so detached to what we individual contributors do on the daily that a blanket decision is not appropriate for everyone. I hate that Bill and the company use linemen and field teams working through everything including Covid as something we should somehow feel bad about. They were out there while we were working remote. Boohoo…
THEY chose to work in the field. A lot of us spent countless hours learning our subjects to be working INDOORS hence the flexibility on where we can do our work.
Before Covid out team was on 4-10s, half the team was on Monday and the other half was on Friday. So we only saw each other on T-T. 3 days, no different than the 3 day hybrid we are giving up in June. You're right, makes no sense. Most of what we do is independent of each other, granted the processes are the same but if something new comes up, you have to write it up in detail because telling someone about it in a 30 minute meeting for 3-5 minutes doesn't cut it. If you do, someone will ask, can you send that to me in an email. The RTO should have bred left up to the 1st line manager, he/she will have a better idea of what jobs can handle it Better still who can handle it.
Everyone knows there is no company culture left. I am not going to volunteer my time or money to anything associated with the company, nothing, not a dime, not a minute. I will give my time and money to my local church and my kids school.
To IT, can you let us please change the default home page so we can get rid of AEPNow, I could care less what goes on with the company as a whole. Mine keeps reverting back to it.
F-Bill, he has ruined this company.
Bill and Donald must be friends…
The rationale they gave for RTO makes no sense. It's full of holes and is actually an insult to employee intelligence. However, they know that most of you won't be able to find another job in this market, especially not a remote one, so you'll just have to grin and bear it. You know it and they know it. It is what it is. That's the "company culture" they are so proud of, employees and management lying to each other with grimaces on their faces.
nothing on that FAQ changed what they have been saying before
I keep questioning how in the world RTO makes sense when there’s 3 different options for schedules 8-5,4-9 1-4, and 4-10s
If people will be on different schedules, how is that different than hybrid schedules that have a set schedule of days in the office and provides “collaboration time”?
Enron was a great investment, until it wasn't.
Nick was on his show at least once a year, curious if Bill will take his BS show on the road and visit Cramer.
Cramer is so bad that for a while there was an inverse Cramer ETF that invested the opposite of what Cramer recommended. He is a running joke. His opinion and $0.80 will get you a small coffee at McDonald's if you are a senior.
If you thought RTO was bad, wait until you find out that Jim Cramer is 'Bullish' on AEP.
Updated RTO FAQ on AEP Now. Nothing crazy…RTO still su-ks
Jim Cramer believes "commended American Electric Power Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:AEP)’s operations and commented that the firm is “well run.” " What a joke, the guy has no clue how bad the company is being run. As an investor, maybe spend some time on boards like this to get an idea of how a company is doing before dropping $$ on it.
Then again, maybe for him, he doesn't care about the employees, just dividends and stock price. Consumers and employees are a necessary evil for people in his position.
Never fear.
I, your intrepid manager, will brave the perilous jungles of Ohio and be in office starting this week, to make sure that you have coffee makers and microwaves ready to go June 1st. That's why I get the big bucks.
Post ID: @1z69+1qB6FXi3
From what I've heard, they are requiring leaders (mgr/dir, etc) to be in office 5 days a week prior to June 1. I heard transmission leaders were required to be in office 5 days a week starting this week.
Once employees came to work, content to do a days work. Now they come to work as if they are being led to the gallows. A death by degrees or a sudden drop has the same outcome. At least the sudden drop be merciful.
“Managers and above are required to be at the office 5 days a week.”
What exactly does this mean? The entire company with few exceptions is required to be in 5 days a week according to the much discussed RTO mandate.
Post from TheLayoff.com
“Our Culture” has been deleted from the handbook. So I think that’s a pipe dream at this point.
Employee satisfaction needs to be a huge component of leadership compensation formula.
Another great team members out the door in my org. The mass exodus is starting to gain traction….
If the AEP stock price plummets, I hope Bill decides it’s not worth being our CEO.
managers and above are being required to be at the office 5 days a week
Lol field employees complaining about engineering getting a single free lunch? That is a hoot. In TFS, I have gotten 2-3 free meals in a single week and that was due to different reasons, not a week long meeting where meals were provided (and no free OT meals in there either). In Engineering, if we got a Christmas lunch for free it was truly a Christmas miracle.
While the virtue-less tyrants in transmission will be enjoying their "free" lunch that, we the field employees will be doing the actual work that paid for their "free" lunch.
“Experienced” transmission engineers getting a free lunch in recognition of them tomorrow, maybe that will be enough to keep them happy!
When you poke the bear, you should expect to be mauled.
Our passion to serve others makes AEP great. Corporate's conviction to exploit others diminishes that greatness. We have a decision to make about our corporate leadership.
So few citizens, who value liberty greater than precious specie in the corporate realm. perhaps that is why we are not more successful and prosperous as a company and a country.
Everyone has some good points on the RTO since it was announced. No matter what part of the spectrum you're aon, there is little to nothing that can be done at our level (non-manager) to change it. As much as I hope Bill comes to his senses, he's not and that does him no good in developing a good working relationship with everyone at the bottom. Future surveys will reflect this and I hope everyone will give low scores and not "game" the system for a few bucks come ICP time. Most of us can not just pack up and leave, a lot ate in their 50's and getting a job at that age with the same salary and benefits. Going out on your own makes no sense unless you have a hidden talent outside of the utilities. So don't bash people because they are trying to make the best of a bad situation. I'm sure some people are just tired of the b..ching on the change. It's like someone that keeps asking for something at work, you provided a status up and they call back each day asking for a status update thinking it will move them to the top of the list to shut them up. I know I would be done listening to all the negativity. Just me, I can put up with a lot but it does wear on you to hear it every day. Good luck to all, if you can get hybrid, good for you, if not, I'll keep candy at my desk, at least there'll be one thing to have go right in a day.
Our sole mission and focus is to make them as miserable as they are making us. There is success in failure.
AEP leadership making good employees bad.
Old school hazing to browbeat and belittle people to conform to their expectations that we shall suffer in silence while the undeserving tormenters enjoy the prosperity our endured suffering creates and sustains. When the whip is snatched from their hands and we turn it upon them let us witness how long the tormenters shall suffer in silence. We need not endure their wanton self-serving belligerence and vacuous promises of postponed raises and promotions. They are the guilty party and we are the unjustly punished, demanding righteous restitution of out God given human dignity.