#anxiety

It crosses my mind daily which I know is not healthy. I try not to think about it and focus on my job but I find it impossible to keep the thoughts and fear entering my thoughts.

Once layoffs start, are they usually completed the same day? This’ll be my first layoff since I joined, and I’m more stressed than I’ve ever been. I’m worried one of the criteria will be last in, first out, which means I’m probably gone. I don’t think I can handle this dragging on for more than a day once it starts.

Losing this job doesn't scare me like it used to. The environment has gotten so bad that leaving might be a relief. The benefits are poor and the culture is toxic, so what am I really protecting?

Layoffs are only on post-payday Tuesday?

Verizon has conditioned me for panic. An unexpected invite from my manager? My stomach drops. A sudden team call? I assume it's bad news. The constant low-level te---r is the new normal.

The rumors about major cuts this month feel more substantial than the usual gossip. I'm getting genuinely concerned that we're walking into a disaster in the coming weeks.

Am I the only one who thinks there is way too much reliance on layoffs lately? I like my job at Xylem, but it's been a while since I felt like I have any kind of job security. This wasn't the case always. Now I'm even considering looking for something else, even if I do like it here in general.

We're not living in some golden age where jobs are easy to find. I'm freaking out, and by the looks of it, the vast majority of people around me are too.

What our employer is doing may not be illegal, but it is absolutely intentional.

People who have worked remotely for ten years are suddenly being told to commute hours every day. No individual consideration. No acknowledgement that some people do not even have the means to comply. Dress codes are being tightened after years. Compensation reviews are promised, then quietly abandoned. All of it is happening right in between layoff rounds.

Individually, each change can be defended. Together, they create pressure. Pressure that leadership knows will cause people to quit.

That pattern has a name. Constructive dismissal, also called constructive discharge. It is when working conditions are changed in ways that predictably push people out without formally laying them off.

This approach may help avoid certain legal thresholds, but it does not make it ethical. It places sustained psychological pressure on employees by design. People are left in prolonged uncertainty, forced to make impossible choices between their jobs and their lives, their families, their finances, and their health. The stress is not incidental. It is cumulative and relentless.

For some, this kind of management creates anxiety, sleeplessness, depression, and a constant sense of threat. When policies are used to push people out while leadership remains silent, employees are made to feel trapped and disposable. In extreme cases, this pressure has contributed to serious mental health crises, including people being pushed toward self harm. That is not a side effect. This is the intention.

Legal or not, it is a sh---y thing to do to people who have given years of their lives to a company.

I can only imagine how the people cut this week are feeling. The rest of us will probably spend it consumed with anxiety over next week. About which we still know almost nothing. What a way to treat people.

Hello, as a newly graduate at paypal only less than one year on popular team, am I sc--wed? Just dont want lay off...

The thought of this spilling into next week makes me feel sick.

My small team hasn't been hit yet. I'm a bit in the dark. But I'm seeing a lot of orgs getting hit, both here and overseas. I'm really sorry, everyone. It feels like we're in for some bad times. I wish the best of luck to those already let go.

The rumors are all over the place. Does anyone know anything for certain?

Is that too much to ask for?

Is this the same as getting IM? And means the axe is about to fall?

I'm stuck in the worst kind of limbo. Staying means more of this stress, but leaving without a plan is scary. The fact that I can't decide which is worse says everything about how bad things are here.

The job market is terrible, but the unprofessionalism makes it worse. I've been left hanging after final interviews twice now. Since when did it become okay to just vanish on a candidate? It adds a whole other layer of stress to an already hard process.

The younger folks here don't realize how lucky they are. They're cheaper to keep, so they're safer. And if they do get cut, the job market is actually open to them. At 52, a layoff for me could be career-ending. It's a terrifying position to be in.

Many are talking about potential February layoffs. Does anyone have solid intel, or are we all just anxiously guessing? I wish we knew one way or the other so we could prepare.

February might be the shortest month, but it'd still be good to know when exactly the supposed layoffs are to take place.

It's so tiring to be focused on the possibility of losing your job 24/7. I'm always saving money to the point I can't enjoy my hobbies anymore. I don't know the last time I bought a book or a game because I can't justify the expense even if I can afford it because I could potentially be laid off any day now. This is a very sad way to live and nobody responsible for it seems to care.

I’ve been at WF almost 10 years and never really heard of anyone getting inconsistently meets until last year, where good and hard working colleagues told me in confidence their managers gave them IM rating. I also noticed that on this site, there appear to be more topics related to this rating. Is this a new thing at WF? I have been an individual contributor so never needed to give rating, but I am finding that the IM’s are coming not because the employees are doing a bad job, but because their managers are micromanaging everything. It makes me want to voluntarily leave as I don’t want to fall victim to this. The ones who I know personally who received IM were shocked when they got it. Some of them had an exceeds rating the year earlier. One of them was only in their role for a few months.

Working every contact, and applying for anything where my skills might fit. I'm becoming desperate. One single interview, and it didn't work out. It's as bad out there as everyone says. Watching Open Text's nosedive is freaking me out. We knew things were bad, and layoffs became the norm, but this feels like the death throes.

That would make sense, it's pay week. I don't know how we're supposed to keep it together until this wave is over. I'm already stressed out of my mind.

Starting to see all the people that got laid off in October, starting to freak out about not finding something. Severance is most likely gone, and unemployment getting ready to run out.

Can we stop these micro layoffs and just do a big one and call it a day? The anxiety of the impending due does not help morale.

Did I miss something? Was this announced? Expected? I feel sick to my stomach because I honestly had no idea this was coming today.

I am sure the majority of people in Burlington are enjoying their time WFH while smaller desks, and cramped quarters will be taking effect in the building for our return. I can speak for myself when I say my mental health has been so much better for the last 5 weeks, however knowing this is our last week WFH (fingers crossed it gets extended) my anxiety is creeping about returning to the office..

For those asking when layoffs will start, or who is next etc. What exactly are you going to do with this information? Look for another job? You should be doing that already. Even if the info was available to tell you your department, or specifically you were being laid off, what would you do with this information? Save your money? You should be doing that already. Someone help me understand what all this worry is worth. Explain to me how knowing what will happen will change anything. BTW, you'll never know. You might get some tips about a certain department but you'll never know if it's going to be you. Why worry about something you have no control over? What you can control is how you prepare and you should be doing that already. Worrying about what can happen will only make you sick. Be in the moment. If it happens be as prepared as you can. But stop worrying about it.

If I get cut, at least the dreadful waiting game is over. I can stop jumping at every email and start dealing with the actual problem instead of the fear of it.

Now I can't even properly relax on a Saturday due to Monday-related anxiety. What they're doing is destroying us, and they couldn't care less.

Veteran employee here. Never in my 20+ years here have I felt so stressed, so anxiety filled, so burnt out, and so diminished. Leaders at the top continue to use smoke in mirrors with what seems like government classified secrecy, while all the leaders below them walk the halls with their heads down looking at every employee like their now a disease of the company. It used to exist only in pockets where bad leadership existed. Now even the best of us are walking targets for some unknown reason.
I disagreed that we had a morale issue a year ago in the first Townhall. This year, even those on their first day feel it.
When this all blows over in a few years, like it always does, the best will have survived and those who chose to throw out basic humanity will be the ones hanging their head. This has gone far enough!

Among other things, I am diagnosed with ADHD and PTSD. I work with a great care team to manage these, but it is still often life-disrupting. Part of my PTSD directly intersects with commuting to my PulsePoint, which like many here feels pointless because not one person from my team is in my state much less in my office. This has gotten worse recently and is affecting my wellbeing, as well as worsening other symptoms which in turn adversely affects my ability and performance.

However, I've never sought accommodations for my disabilities and I am nervous, especially since there can be disbelief or stigma around them. For example, I am worried that if I ask to be exempt from office requirements, it will make me more likely to get RIFed down the line somehow. Or otherwise get me on upper mgmt's radar in a bad way. I know there are ADA protections, but I also know that there are many ways to make it seem unrelated.

I am curious if you or someone you know has had experience seeking acommodations at this company, good or bad or neutral. Thank you!

Be on guard & be prepared mentally. Add skills & Invest in self. We will see many more & very soon.

Of this job, where I have to make decisions I don't agree with every day, each one taking a small piece of my soul. Of my manager, who seems to care more about pitting us against each other than the substance of the work, thinking it’ll somehow earn them a prize. Of some teammates, who always take the bait. And of the constant fear of losing this job - a job that makes me feel like a worse person than I am.

Pretty much every team experienced JEs. Lost a lot of tenured, experienced people. Doesn't even feel that great to still be here with things looking so grim. Still no official announcements from leadership - just word of mouth.

Starting the year with a big round of layoffs doesn't exactly inspire confidence. It makes you wonder if they've got this planned as a recurring event. The thought of going through this stress every few months is really depressing.

Have another job opportunity elsewhere, just like several of you folks our team is pretty understaffed, and it would be almost impossible to do a knowledge transfer session during my last two weeks. I assume I may get a counter offer, and if the salary is high enough, I’d be okay with staying. Although I’d be concerned that I’d be targeted for the next layoff…. Anyone been in a similar position or any advice?

Assuming the rumors are true. It’s exhausting being kept in the dark like this. Our livelihoods are at stake.