#culture

Wonder if anyone still have faith for ExxonMobil Singapore future. The recent cut was very harsh and again a political game in the company. There are many whole day do nothing didnt get cut but there are ppl work damn hard get cut.. do you still like to work here ? What is the future to work here in dying sunset industry with flooded China and regional advancement and high quality and cheaper products.. sell gas station, shutdown cr--ker, whats next 5yrs, 10yrs? What else will remain running? Comments please...

So no Christmas tree, no Menorah, no Kwanzaa decorations. Just a random reindeer and sticks with lights and poinsettias.
I guess we don’t want to offend anyone.

I guess this turns out to be true !!!! Field service is gonna be all Mastec

Anybody heard anything about Another Rebranding?

As an homage to all FiServants who are sl@ving away this holiday season I wrote y'all a poem:

A FiServant drags through the halls where joy becomes “out of scope,”
Holiday cheer gets audited, repackaged, and shipped out with no hope.
The tree looks like it’s begging for someone to pull the plug, too,
Even the ornaments whisper, “You deserve someplace new.”

Happy Holidays and remember you are more than this job...

Working at Walmart is a better job than working at mondelez

https://www.counterpunch.org/2025/12/04/the-biggest-heist-in-america-is-being-sold-as-a-gift-to-children/

Copy Pasta from a different site:

Former HR here - subtle signs your company is preparing for layoffs

I’ve been through 3 rounds of layoffs (twice in HR, once when I was also laid off), and there’s a pattern that emerges before the axe falls. Not trying to create paranoia, but if you’re seeing multiple signs on this list, it might be time to update your resume.

This got long, so I’ve broken it down by timeline and severity. Hopefully this helps someone see what’s coming and prepare accordingly.

EARLY WARNING SIGNS (3-6 months out)

Financial and strategic shifts:

Hiring freeze gets announced, especially if it’s sudden or poorly explained. When companies say “we’re being strategic about growth” out of nowhere, that’s HR-speak for “we’re about to cut costs aggressively.” Pay attention to whether it’s a soft freeze (critical roles only) or hard freeze (literally nobody).

Executives start talking about “efficiency,” “operational excellence,” “doing more with less,” or “rightsizing” in all-hands meetings. Once leadership starts using these phrases repeatedly, start paying attention. They’re preparing employees psychologically for cuts.

The company misses earnings or revenue targets multiple quarters in a row, or leadership keeps revising guidance downward. Public companies especially - check their investor relations page and quarterly calls.

Consultants show up. Specifically McKcKinsey, Bain, Deloitte, or similar firms. They’re not there to make things better for employees - they’re there to identify “redundancies” and provide cover for cuts leadership already wants to make. If you see consultants doing org chart analysis or “efficiency studies,” that’s a massive red flag.

Leadership changes at the top. New CEO, CFO, or COO often means new priorities. New executives frequently want to “make their mark” within the first 100 days, and layoffs are a quick way to cut costs and restructure.

Budget and resource signals:

Training and development budgets disappear. Conference approvals get denied, software licenses don’t get renewed, that certification you wanted gets tabled indefinitely. When companies stop investing in employee development, they’re not planning long-term with current staff.

Discretionary spending freezes. Team outings canceled, holiday parties scaled back or eliminated, small perks disappear. These are the easiest costs to cut first.

Delayed or frozen merit increases and bonuses. If annual raises get “postponed” or bonuses are cut despite decent performance, the company is hoarding cash for something.

Open headcount gets quietly closed. You might not notice a hiring freeze officially, but those three open roles on your team just stop being discussed.

Cultural and messaging changes:

The “we’re a family” messaging intensifies. Ironically, when companies start really pushing the culture stuff hard, it’s often because morale is tanking and they know what’s coming. Authentic culture doesn’t need constant reinforcement.

Town halls become more frequent but less substantive. Leadership is trying to control the narrative and keep people calm, but they’re not actually saying anything meaningful.

Internal communications shift tone. Messages become more formal, more carefully worded, more legal-sounding. This usually means lawyers are reviewing everything.

Real estate and facilities:

Office consolidation starts being discussed. Subleasing space, breaking leases early, or suddenly pushing hybrid/remote work after being office-focused. Real estate is expensive and often the first place companies look to cut.

Facilities staff reductions. If maintenance, security, or reception teams shrink, that’s a leading indicator.

MEDIUM-TERM SIGNS (1-3 months out)

The ones people miss:

Your manager starts acting weird in 1-on-1s. They seem distant, can’t give you clear answers about future projects, or suddenly don’t want to talk about your career development, or they cancel 1-on1s. They often know 4-6 weeks before you do and are terrible at hiding it. Watch for:

Avoiding eye contact

Being vague about Q2/Q3 planning

Not fighting for resources they normally would

Seeming stressed or checked out

Cross-functional projects get canceled or put on hold indefinitely. If that big initiative involving multiple teams suddenly loses steam, it’s often because leadership knows the teams won’t exist soon.

Reorganizations that don’t make sense. When they shuffle reporting structures or combine teams in weird ways, they’re often preparing for consolidation. The reorg is the setup; the layoff is the follow-through.

Senior people start leaving and aren’t replaced. When your VP quietly exits and the role just disappears or gets absorbed, that’s a restructure preview. Execs often see the writing on the wall before layoffs and jump ship.

The “high performer” narrative shifts. Suddenly everyone’s being evaluated more critically, PIPs increase, and the bar for “meeting expectations” gets higher. They’re building paper trails.

HR and administrative signals:

HR schedules random meetings with employees to “check in.” This can be them gauging morale, but it can also be them identifying who might be problems during layoffs (ie, who might sue or cause issues).

Increased focus on documentation. HR suddenly cares a lot about having everything in writing, attendance records are scrutinized, minor policy violations are documented. They’re building files.

Anonymous surveys about “organizational effectiveness” or “role clarity.” They’re identifying redundancies and overlapping responsibilities.

Operational changes:

Vendors get cut or renegotiated aggressively. If the company is trying to save money everywhere, labor costs are next.

Projects shift from innovation to maintenance. All the exciting new work stops, and teams are just keeping lights on. This suggests they don’t believe in long-term investment right now.

Contractors and temps disappear first. This is always the canary in the coal mine. If contractors are let go en masse, full-time employees are usually 4-8 weeks behind.

Financial desperation moves:

The company takes on debt or seeks additional funding under unfavorable terms. This suggests cash flow problems.

Asset sales. Selling off business units, real estate, IP, or other assets to raise cash.

Delayed payments to vendors. If your company is stretching payables or late on bills, they’re struggling with cash.

IMMEDIATE RED FLAGS (2-4 weeks out)

The “oh sh-t” tier:

You or your team suddenly gets asked to document all your processes in detail, create runbooks, or do knowledge transfers “for continuity.” They’re preparing for people to be gone and don’t want institutional knowledge walking out the door.

Managers have mysterious meetings that aren’t on the calendar, or meetings that say “leadership sync” with no agenda. Often they’re being told how to “rank” their teams (stack ranking) or getting trained on how to deliver termination news.

HR blocks calendar time that’s marked private across the entire organization on the same day. That’s layoff day. Usually a Wednesday or Thursday.

Managers seem panicked or are suddenly unavailable. They’re either in planning meetings or mentally preparing for what they have to do.

IT or Security starts asking random questions about access, or you notice permissions audits. They’re preparing to revoke access quickly.

Conference rooms get blocked all day with “private” meetings. Those are the termination meetings.

The parking lot has way more cars than usual early in the morning on a random day. Leadership arrives early to prepare and coordinate.

The final 48 hours:

Executives all happen to be “in the office” on the same day when they’re usually remote or traveling. They want to show their faces and deliver messages in person.

Your manager asks for a “quick sync” with no context, or you get a calendar invite for early morning with just “meeting.” That’s often the termination conversation.

You notice coworkers disappearing into conference rooms and not coming back, or leaving with boxes. If it’s happening, it’s happening to multiple people today.

Email access starts acting weird, VPN connections drop, or badge access to certain areas stops working. IT is already starting to shut you down.

WHAT TO DO - ACTION PLAN

Preparation phase (as soon as you see early signs)

Update LinkedIn immediately. Make sure your profile is complete and compelling. Turn on “open to work” privately so recruiters can see it but your company can’t.

Refresh your resume and tailor it for your target roles. Have multiple versions ready for different job types. Get it reviewed by someone who knows your industry.

Document your accomplishments with metrics. Revenue generated, costs saved, projects delivered, teams built. Save this somewhere personal, not company equipment.

Save important files legally. Performance reviews, reference letters, samples of your work (that aren’t confidential), documentation of your achievements. Email them to your personal account or save to personal cloud storage. Do NOT take confidential company information, client data, or proprietary code.

Screenshot or save your LinkedIn recommendations and endorsements. Sometimes people leave and delete their profiles.

Reconnect with your network NOW while you’re employed. It’s easier to get coffee as a “catch up” than as a desperate job seeker. Reach out to old colleagues, mentors, recruiters you’ve worked with.

Financial preparation:

Build emergency fund if possible. Even an extra month of expenses helps.

Understand your benefits. Know your PTO balance, how severance works at your company (if there’s a standard package), what COBRA costs, when your stock vests, and what happens to your 401k.

Reduce expenses where you can. Not to panic level, but maybe hold off on big purchases.

Check if you have any loans against 401k or obligations tied to employment. Some companies require repayment upon termination.

Legal and administrative:

Keep records of everything. If you suspect you’re being targeted unfairly (discrimination, retaliation), document it meticulously with dates and witnesses.

Check your employment contract for non-compete, non-solicitation, and IP assignment clauses. Know what you signed.

Mental preparation:

This is not about your worth. Layoffs are business decisions, usually driven by executive mistakes or market conditions. Even top performers get cut.

Have a plan for how you’ll spend day one after a layoff. Whether it’s updating your resume, going for a run, or calling a friend, having a plan helps you not spiral.

Tell your partner or trusted person what might be coming. Don’t suffer alone or let it blindside your household.

If/when it happens:

Don’t sign anything immediately. You usually have time to review severance agreements. Consider having an employment lawyer review it, especially if it includes non-compete or release clauses.

Negotiate if possible. Severance, extended healthcare, references, job search support, equity vesting. The worst they can say is no, and many companies have wiggle room.

File for unemployment immediately. Even if you get severance, you might be eligible. Don’t leave money on the table.

Ask for a neutral reference or letter of recommendation before you leave. Much easier to get this on day one than six months later.

Understand what’s happening to your benefits. COBRA deadlines, life insurance conversion options, FSA/HSA balances.

Get contact info for colleagues you want to stay in touch with. Once you lose email access, it’s hard to reconnect.

Job search strategy:

Take a day or two to process emotionally. You don’t have to start applying immediately.

Quality over quantity. Targeted applications with customized materials beat spray-and-pray.

Use your network first. Most jobs are filled through referrals. Let people know you’re looking.

Consider contract or freelance work to bridge gaps. It keeps money coming in and shows you stayed active.

Be honest in interviews about the layoff. “Company went through restructuring” or “position was eliminated due to budget cuts” is fine. Most interviewers get it, especially if layoffs were public.

WHAT NOT TO DO

Don’t panic or make it obvious you’re job hunting. Don’t print your resume on the company printer, don’t take recruiting calls at your desk, don’t update LinkedIn with “OPEN TO WORK” publicly while still employed.

Don’t badmouth the company publicly. Even if you’re furious, keep it professional. The industry is smaller than you think.

Don’t stop doing your job. Keep performing until the end. You want good references and you never know what might change.

Don’t burn bridges with your manager. Even if they’re delivering bad news, they’re probably just doing what they were told. Stay professional.

Don’t take things that aren’t yours. Seriously, don’t steal company property, access data you shouldn’t, or do anything that could give them cause for termination instead of layoff. You want that severance and unemployment eligibility.

AFTERMATH - IF YOU SURVIVE THE CUT

Survivor’s guilt is real. It’s okay to feel relieved and also sad for colleagues who were let go.

Your workload is about to increase dramatically. Set boundaries early and document what’s not getting done. Don’t try to do three people’s jobs.

Start looking anyway. Companies that do one round of layoffs often do more. Plus, the culture and workload might not be sustainable.

Support your laid-off colleagues. Write recommendations, make introductions, be a reference. What goes around comes around.

Honestly, who are these supposed ‘professionals’ working on the SAP projects? It’s the same bunch who managed to turn all ERP projects into a complete shambles, isn’t it? Quite remarkable, really — not a shred of backbone among them. As for qualifications, well… one does wonder how they managed to collect so few over so many years. Integrity? Even rarer.

Yet there they are, parading around as if they understand IT or business processes, despite having no meaningful experience to their names. They’ve simply perfected the art of playing the game, slipping through unnoticed while contributing absolutely nothing.

One can’t help but marvel at how they wake up each day, look in the mirror, and persist with the charade. Surely we don't need a team of 20 locally to forward emails and presentations from consultants?

Oompa Loompa doompadee doo
I've got another puzzle for you
Oompa Loompa doompadee dee
If you are wise you will listen to me
What do you get if your manager lies on EOYs like a rat?
Pampered and spoiled like a Siamese cat?
Blaming the employees is a lie and a shame
You know exactly who's to blame:
The Chairman Robby and the HR Shannie!
Oompa Loompa doompadee dah
If you're not greedy & spoiled then you will go far
You will live in happiness too…
Get out of BNY Like the ….
Oompa Loompa doompitty do

What's your #1 pick... My pick: "We are a family"

https://survey.quantumworkplace.com/bpsurvey/language/oc_UTQB45201/

Survey is open. But be honest.

What is going on at this company that close to 100 people can sit on a call like this morning and think we have the right people in charge??? It’s almost like they didn’t have months to prepare.

Hope actual leadership watch the recordings (or attempt at recordings and wrong screen share). Cut the experiment and let’s get back to work.

https://www.trendforce.com/news/2025/11/26/news-beyond-ex-vp-lo-intel-is-reportedly-poaching-tsmc-arizona-engineers-with-20-30-higher-salaries/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

What’s up guys, PSTG is going to he-l?

This was the message given by them repeatedly during session calls with mgmt and they are “frustrated” mgmt keeps saying this. Excuse me but you’re either nieve, lying or freaking clueless cause it’s absolutely freakin true

Why does everyone at Lexmark and now the legacy- Xerox SLT think that everything that Lexmark do is fantastic. They lost $600 million last year so I do not understand???

My entire team was cut after more than a decade with the company, and the way it was handled was brutal. I watched teammates vanish from slack one by one before anyone bothered to contact me. The call did not come until late in the afternoon, after hours of waiting and wondering. I envy those teams that got the news all at once, I wish that was us. The whole experience was a rough reminder of how little control we have during these decisions.

So called pulse survey has innumerable flaws, too many well known to innumerate here.

The real pulse comes through from sentiments expressed in boards like this because many enterprises like VZ do not genuinely promote a culture of transparency and accountability.

Those jokers just loved to deliver the matter of factly snarky message of “this is what’s best for Citi, we have to let you go” with such a smug look on their face. It’s time to replace those guys with AI. If there’s any test bed low hanging fruit group of people to run off, it’d be them. Trim the limbs off of that tree.

What use are they anyway. They don’t do anything but pass out busted links and direct you to a FAQ page that does not answer your questions. Let those guys go.

Tech should make work faster, simpler, and more effective. Even at a company like Nike, where the heart is brand, product, and sport - a strong tech foundation is essential to competing in today’s marketplace.

What’s tough is when leadership decisions prioritize image over capability. We’ve all seen what happens when someone is chosen for pedigree or presence rather than the depth required for the role. As a woman in tech, it’s painful to watch because it reinforces stereotypes and biases that so many of us are working to dismantle.

A strong tech organization needs leaders who actually understand the work, care about the teams, and can build the systems the business depends on. That’s how real change happens.

A manager told me they’re FORCED to assign lower ratings because there’s a quota for how many people must fall on the bottom end. The problem is, on teams like ours with only two or three people carrying all the workload, that means one of us gets marked down no matter what. I’m fine with ratings reflecting actual performance, but forcing a bell curve at the manager level feels continuation of Franks playbook . It should balance itself naturally, not force it. Makes me wonder what kind of game they’re running here and whether this came from HR or from Mike.

Any of the managers here able to confirm if that’s actually true?

Is this good?

Something I’ve found deeply unprofessional is leaders openly discussing possible layoffs and the decline of Target culture with a hint of glee. As if they perhaps enjoyed spreading bad news to encourage lower level employees to flee the sinking ship as they could hop onto the nearest lifeboat. My leaders have openly discussed Target’s problems while maintaining their careers for over a decade. One has to wonder if it’s become a strategy to keep their precious little corporate roles.

All to say: if you are worried, stay the course. Don’t leave without your paycheck and a cushion to plan your next step. Target is not the end all be all of anything. Having watched a man get the saddest multiple decade anniversary acknowledgement “party” followed by a layoff the next week… you won’t be missing out on much if you’re fighting over the last life preserver.

The all hands on Monday were being nothing burgers. They did not say anything new. They sent an email with the changes then schedule an all hands over a week later to say the same thing? This is why VZ fails. Redundant and inefficient. Bet Friday’s call will be the same. It’s evident that things will not change. Dan the hatchet man is that, the hatchet man and will sadly pass it off to Scampath who will continue to tank the company. Leave while you can. VZ will not survive this 13k RIF. Culture, morale is dead there’s no coming back from losing trust in your people.

Interesting - folks posting within minutes after CW and MD announcements. Nothing else to do? Like do your work?

If you’ve been crushed by the toxicity of this company - know you aren’t alone. This is a culturally unhealthy organization ruled by politics and very bad decisions at the top to middle of house. The management here is a total joke, ruled by their own self interests. Share your own stories of how messed up your time at this company has been below. 👏🏽

The company as a whole may be doing OK, but North America has been in a down hill spiral since the appointment of the current CEO. Changes need to be made, some may be unpopular ,but the reputation is terrible, of what was once a respected company.

I hate the people here. Fu--ing rude and obnoxious.

So glad I refinanced and moved my accounts. Treat me like caca as an employee and you dont deserve me as a customer.

I feel like the leadership in this company is so confused about how to run a good healthcare company and it starts from the top. Sarah London is not a good leader and she needs to go.

At this point CV is polished, will bide my time. Still putting in work but only until something that looks better comes up. Thankful to be on the ship but this place has given and taken so much, the new lack of leadership is literally ki-ling me. Management pushes down to empty suits, No direction given. When you push you get more problems and politics. When performance suffers they blame the little people and give out sh---y pay and reviews. Can’t change anything at my level. Only way to survive mentally is to stop caring.

Replace your boss with AI
I am not trolling- this is useful:

https://ReplaceYourBoss.ai

So ridiculous, toxic environment, years of dei hires with no experience, culture is like working at a buss terminal. HR & Labor Relations work together to sc--w you and make this job uncomfortable. Im still here for now but good luck to those laid off. Besides the paycheck what did you really accomplish.

I am typically not a fans of unions, but I think it’s pretty hilarious if the North Slope field staff unionizes in response to the continued incompetence and favoritism displayed by company leadership.

My store is turning into a Russell Cellular. Any thoughts on them? So far, Im not impressed with their communication and the commission seems very low compared to what I am making now.

Dead yet? Wondering how long the leadership can rest and vest doing nothing but errands for Uncle Hock. Lord knows nothing engineering related could have happened after I left the funhouse of mirrors that is bcom.

It’s funny how management was always telling us to sell sell sell, follow the prices even if I had to sell to 90 year old lady who is being transferred to assisted living facility who needs a landline just so she can talk to her son every Sunday but I have to ask her does she stream and she don’t know what that is. All of a sudden we customer focused it’s now be nice to the customer do what’s right for the customer, whatever, we have always said that but this regime was always about money money money and now look Dan laying people off left and right. We did this to our selves! Yes everyone is in the business to make money but let’s use common sense. Customer dies , but you want us to ask the daughter or son do they want to take over the internet. Yeah change this sh-t Dan!!