There’s been some chatter about internal roles being posted with a ‘preferred candidate’ allegedly already in mind. Supposedly, certain leaders have a reputation for giving opportunities to people in their inner circle, and many employees feel it creates an uneven playing field.
On top of that, the culture in parts of the firm (some say CRM and even more specifically compliance supposedly) is described by many as having ‘mean girl energy.’ If you don’t play the game (feed egos, camera on head nodding in agreement, don’t mention the fake glamour headshots), you risk getting up blackballed often times with the support of HR (supposedly).
Some have said there is one specific leader who stands out in this regard, allegedly she gets worse every year because she’s been getting away with it for so long. Apparently, she’s great at managing up, but for those in her world that dare challenge her perspective, the experience has the potential to be miserable (supposedly).
The running joke that helps get many of us through the day is pulling up the Schweb and laughing at what appears to be a heavily AI-filtered glamour headshot. It’s hilarious and also perfectly on brand for how fake the culture feels these days. And with layoffs and constant uncertainty hanging over people’s heads, we all need a good laugh!