#burnout

Then I’ll just put in less effort. I’ve always been responsible and usually gone the extra mile, including being available well beyond official hours. I’ve helped resolve plenty of crises and messy situations. But if this is how it’s going to be, I’ll simply stop being available after hours. I’ll coast until they lay me off. That’s probably coming anyway, for all of us, so why bother anymore?

I’m exhausted from hearing the same promises over and over again about backfilling positions that never actually get filled. We’re overloaded, the work keeps piling up, and every month we’re told help is coming, but it never does. Add in the empty promotion talk, and it’s getting harder to stay quiet.

Optum/UHC jobs exist less to create real value and more to sustain systems, hierarchies, and the appearance of productivity.
People often sense—quietly and uncomfortably—that their work doesn’t truly help customers or society, even while it consumes their time and energy. This disconnect creates fatigue, cynicism, and a low-grade moral injury, especially when work centers on compliance, internal processes, or managing perceptions rather than solving real problems. The deeper issue isn’t effort or competence, but being asked to spend a life maintaining structures instead of meaning—while the work that actually keeps society functioning is undervalued and strained.

Signs that you are being gaslit. Every item below happened to me. Finally left a few years ago because I got sick of the abuse, the bait-and-switch, burn-out, and out right theft of my work. Don’t let this happen to you.

1. Expectations that keep changing
   ↳ Goals get reset halfway
   ↳ Promotions dangled, then vanish
   ↳ Yesterday’s "great job" becomes today's "not enough"

2. Work that feels meaningless
   ↳ Endless decks no one reads
   ↳ Projects with no impact
   ↳ Work hard, feel… empty

3. Leaders who disappear when it matters
   ↳ Present for wins, silent during chaos
   ↳ Emotional distance dressed as "professionalism"
   ↳ Absent in moments that count

4. No space for real conversations
   ↳ Feedback feels like formality
   ↳ Honest talks are risky
   ↳ Everyone smiles. No one speaks truth.

5. Invisible efforts, visible mistakes
   ↳ Wins are "team effort"
   ↳ Mistakes? That’s on you
   ↳ Your hard work becomes someone else's highlight.

6. Leaders who fear strong voices
   ↳ Challenge is mistaken for conflict
   ↳ Assertiveness punished as “tone”
   ↳ Quiet compliance gets rewarded

7. Promises made in hiring... quietly broken later
   ↳ Career growth, autonomy, flexibility
   ↳ Turns out: deadlines, control, and burnout
   ↳ No one explains the switch

8. Recognition becomes transactional
   ↳ One-size-fits-none awards
   ↳ “Thank you” only in slides
   ↳ Praise wrapped in KPIs

9. Wellness preached, burnout rewarded
   ↳ Meditation app, but no boundaries
   ↳ Rest is guilted
   ↳ Stillness is seen as slacking

10. No one asks: ‘What do you need?’
    ↳ Assumptions > curiosity
    ↳ Fix the task, not the tension
    ↳ Support feels like a script

Great people don’t leave because they’re weak.
They leave because they’re wise.
They leave when staying means self-betrayal.

Anyone else just feeling exhausted and like there's no job security at this company after quarterly layoffs for almost two years now?

Lately, it feels like my job is taking over everything. I leave the office late, then I'm still checking emails at home (which, I know, my own fault, but some things have to be done if I'm to ever return home). There's just no energy left for my family or anything I enjoy doing. Is anyone else feeling this completely drained?

That’s what we’re looking at from now on.

I would welcome being laid off. I'd leave on my own if there were jobs available. Getting laid off with severance is the second best option. And I'm not the only one feeling this way, I know that for a fact.

I’m in my late forties, I'm already drained, and the idea of pushing through another decade or more of the same feels suffocating. I’ve put too much of myself into this job to walk away easily, but some days I catch myself almost hoping they make the choice for me.

Our manager talks about work/life balance, but cuts and voluntary departures mean the workload just keeps growing. Its becoming exhausting and nobody seems to care. I don't know how the rest of you are dealing with it, but I'm this close to walking away, and I don't even have anything lined up.

I was doing some tinkering with AI and thought to share:

⭐ 3. Set internal boundaries with AI pressure and dashboards

Dashboards are not reality.
AI promises are not reality.
The “push of a button” narrative is not reality.

But your body reacts like they are threats.

To protect yourself, create a mental mantra:

“Leadership’s metrics are not my emergency.”

Repeat it when:
• deadlines shift
• new reviews drop suddenly
• AI hype creates worker panic
• leadership frames scarcity as urgency

Your job is to contribute — not to sacrifice your health for an algorithm.

I have been giving Sabre only what is necessary to keep my job. With so much stress and uncertainty, going above and beyond no longer seems worth it. The environment is unsustainable, and they will have to face the fallout, and sooner seems more likely than later.

I refuse to work another weekend. Most days since the RIF notice have been 16 hours. My eyes are blurry. For what? Now, now it’s a priority to create documentation and do migrations. Before all this, just give to so and so.

If they withhold my severance sc--w it I’ll stock groceries at least the work ends when you leave for the shift. Good luck to all.

And I hope I get my walking papers. I went from loving my job to hating this place in a few years, and I'd be happy to leave it and never look back.

By the time Friday hits I'm worn out from all the extra work I've been expected to take on, and even an entire weekend of doing nothing but resting doesn't bring my energy back. I start every Monday already drained, and it's getting harder to see how I'm supposed to keep this pace going.

And I regret it, i can see it's a dumpster fire already. Will it improve ?

Now that they forced everyone back in, the stress levels are rising fast. People are exhausted from commuting again, and half the office is talking about looking elsewhere. Add the constant layoffs into the mix, and you have a recipe for a disaster. It feels like leadership learned nothing from the last few years.

With all the uncertainty, my productivity was lower than ever. It wasn't even intentional, I just couldn't concentrate on work.

Looking back over the last year and a half: supposedly setting ourselves up for growth and durability (whatever that means), pulling back on travel, pulling back on new roles, eventually not refilling roles, teams are stressed and overworked, removing dollars for team meetings and culture building (formally culture was important), more and more town halls and Blue pulses - although those meetings and surveys were less and less substantive - saying for the most part nothing. Simply giving the appearance of communication but empty of anything real. Perpetual lack of funding and what is funded is only to minimum viable value, always behind and not addressing technical debt, Anxiety is high, RIF for tenured expensive people short term gain (although with a lot of experience navigating giant enterprise - long term very costly) and now sounds like possibility of early retirement options. For a supposedly giant healthy business it seems far from it. Putting aside the constant exec pay and exec bonus commentary, as a business did the Cigna purchase over-leverage HCSC or are there Convenants in the debt service for that purchase that require certain ratios or performance metrics that should of never been accepted? Should we all be looking for a job now?

company is a real nightmare to work in.

i don't see how they ca n avoid layoffs after the meltdown

Is the plan that there’s still no plan?

It feels like a step backward to add more friend of a friend C-suite serial consulters instead of trying to invest in reversing the trend of accelerating employee burnout and churn. It’s starting to spread to CS/net technicians who are usually somewhat isolated from the corporate tumult.

Are they just trying to get some more pals paid before the next buyout comes?

I think every single one of us should be doing it.

3 years ago when I interviewed here I was told very explicitly overtime was optional but apparently I am not meeting expectations because I’m not working enough overtime/holidays?? I guess it’s a wrap for me.

My team has been shrinking for two years straight, and none of the key roles were ever backfilled. At this point, I can’t even remember the last time I left at the official end of the day. The only thing keeping us going is that my teammates are solid. We’ve been carrying the load together, since our manager isn’t exactly helping.

We’ve pushed ourselves because the job market is rough and we’re all trying to hold on to what we have. But we’re getting to a point where the workload just isn’t realistic anymore, and the exhaustion is hitting hard. It makes you wonder what the point is. Fighting so hard for a paycheck every day, when the whole thing could be sent offshore at any moment.

I’m done. Why should I work like crazy for weeks after being told I’m out? I’ll be fair and do the bare minimum, which is already more courtesy than this company showed me. Laid off and they still think I should be invested in the outcomes? That’s actually laughable.

I haven’t felt like we’re building toward anything in ages. It’s all maintenance mode, at best. I’d almost welcome being put out of my misery if the job market weren’t so bleak. No real options out there, so we’re all just stuck. The worst feeling is fearing the loss of a job you don’t like at a company you can’t stand, simply because there’s nowhere else to go right now.

I dread Mondays. The whole office just reeks of undistilled misery.

I regret every extra minute and every bit of effort I ever put into this job. Stellar performance meant absolutely nothing in the end. At my next job, if I’m lucky enough to find one anytime soon, I’m becoming the master of coasting.

I can’t remember the last time we had a normal day at work, where people weren’t completely at their wit’s end. This past year and a half has felt like collective torture, and there’s still no end in sight.

I started months ago. The problem is, it’s just slim pickings out there. I’ve managed to land exactly one offer, and it was such a lowball it barely felt real. The job hunt itself is wearing me down more than I expected. Trying to stay motivated when nothing solid turns up is exhausting. If anyone has had a good experience, please share. We all need some encouragement right now.

Verizon sounds like a "Snake Pit!"

I'm glad I'm not working at Verizon anymore as life is too short to drive yourself into the grave with stress.

It's no surprise then that so many Verizon employees suffer from Cardiometabolic conditions like high blood pressure and Type 2 diabetes; and mental health problems like depression and anxiety.

This environment at Verizon to me is more "Black Friday' than going out shopping for one day sales.

From this job, my team, my boss, and the constant fear of ending up jobless. It’s just bad news everywhere and this relentless anxiety that never lets up. I don’t know how the rest of you are dealing with it, but I feel like I’ve used up every reserve I had. When you’re this physically and emotionally drained, it’s hard to even help yourself. I just wish something out there felt genuinely good or supportive, something to lift us up even a little.

Work life balance left the building the day I accepted this role. Meetings bleed into evenings and weekends, and by Monday I’m already exhausted. If anyone has tips on reclaiming time, I’m all ears.

How many more people are they going to cut before they realize we are already operating at a bare minimum head count at some facilities?

It amazes me that another year has gone by in this place….Certainly took a lot out on me…

So far, I've spent 2 hours going through my inbox. I've only gotten 1/3 of the non-filtered emails I received in the past three days cleared.

Now I've got a teams call that will eat up 30–60 minutes, then I can get back to reading and deleting emails.

This is what it takes to avoid the downtime I, as a technology worker, regularly have due to the nature of my work being reactive. I'm not getting anything of value done, but at least I'm not gonna show up on a non-activity report, since I've been working non-stop for over 2 hours. Just think of how good my metrics will look.

It's amazing how productive I feel!

Agency just sprung the December furlough on me. 3 weeks this time. This is getting old real quick.

I survived, but I’m completely fizzled out, and I don’t care about the work or whatever comes next. Watching so many people get cut, many of them after years of hard, dedicated work, doesn’t motivate me at all. If anything, it just made painfully obvious what we all knew - being invested gets you absolutely nothing in return.

I’m sorry for the people who were let go, mainly because options are limited and life keeps getting harder by the day. Not because this job mattered, or should have mattered, in the first place. It all feels pointless.

With the leadership team planning the budget next week, a significant portion will be over layoffs. They overhired and are moving faster than expected on the Consent Order.

At the same time, they are pushing ICs to move faster and faster leading to burnout, while planning to lay those same people off. The leadership was bemoaning that after the CO is over, there needs to be busy work until the layoff details could be finalized.

It's Over and out to the Verizon Layoffs site until the next RIF. I'm totally burnt out.

To those still here @Verizon, see you soon!!