#morale

It’s the second “working” Monday morning of the year. The first week back from the holidays is just over, and now reality sets in. How are you doing?
I have about 10 applications to other companies in a “submitted” status. I had one interview in December that I thought went very well but I haven’t heard back from yet. I am grateful to have the time with my family, but this morning I’m feeling dejected. Yes, picking myself up by my bootstraps, but looking for some candor here. Working here for 23 years, it’s like I imagine a divorce to be, feelings are up and down. I even miss the commute. Probably the routine, really.
How about you?

Many have commented on the change in culture and how the company has changed for the worse. Does a lot of this have to do with the newer hires over the past few years?

The company has hired a lot of new people and to be fair some have been good. However in many cases it looks like the company’s hired a lot of mediocre employees. It feels like the company used to hire the best of the best. Recently it feels like the scraps are getting picked up.

What does everyone think?

Don't expect them to treat us any better than any other corporation. Old Cargill is pretty much dead. If anything, that's what we learned last year. I expect what's coming to be no better. If another opportunity presents itself, don't hesitate. Even if you're a veteran.

Is it just me, or does it feel to you like were living in The Traitors game show. Every day the Faithful try their hardest to generate cash, meanwhile the Traitors (HR in our case) are weighing us all up for the Ax, then they invite the unlucky ones into a room alone to tell them the bad news ... meanwhile the rest of the company carry on regardless and only learn who has gone when they don't turn up the next morning (no official announcement of anything).

We even have our own Donna Kelce (Secret Traitor) who provides the Traitors lists of potential unfortunates to be cut - I can reveal, the Secret Traitor - its ATHINA KANIOURA S&T Chief !

Seriously though, isn't it just like living in The Traitors, every night you get a terrible sleep wondering if tomorrow morning it will be your last. Big obvious difference - we don't get to banish the Traitors, only the Secret Traitor gets to do that. Oh and this show goes on for a decade ...

It absolutely doesn't matter how hard you work, how much overtime you do, or how critical your role is. There's no rationale for selecting people for layoffs beyond immediate profits. I suspect people claiming 2026 will be worse than 2025 are right. Act accordingly, so you won't have any regrets when they boot you anyway.

No warning, nothing. I was an excellent performer. Never trust the praise. Hard work doesn't pay off. They'll discard you at the first opportunity if it fits their bottom line.

I'll get us started: cleaning public restrooms at a highway rest stop, selling vacuums door to door in the rain, or doing the overnight shift at a deserted gas station. The ideas are honestly endless once you think about it. Who else has a good one?

Most of the people I know who are staying are close to retirement. They are unhappy but see no point in starting over this late. One coworker is months away and jokes about hoping for a layoff with severance. I keep telling him that luck never seems to work that way.

AT&T doesn’t really care if you grow or improve, they just use your work to make a profit. Once your skills aren’t the hottest thing, they move on. Focusing on your own development and opportunities outside the company makes a lot more sense.

Look, I'm over fifty and I've seen the cycles here. You bust your gut for years, hit your targets, and then watch rounds of layoffs target the highest pay brackets anyway. It really makes you question why you should pour extra energy into a place that seems to value your cost over your contribution. Frankly, most of us at this stage are protecting our energy and just meeting expectations while we plan. It’s hard to stay motivated with that hanging over you.

If you're so unhappy with how things are being done, what's keeping you here?

How can a company change so much for the worse in just a few short years? I still can't wrap my head around it.

Has anyone here worked somewhere else and seen worse internal politics than this? The environment is the next level of toxic, with some managers yelling at people all the time like it's normal. I've worked in tough places before, but this one stands out in a bad way.

soooo what is happening in other districts with DEG technicians and I and R techs!??? we have one job per day if we are lucky, DEG techs are same very slow just taking down old equipment!
Don't get me started on useless air pressure ho-s, all they do all day is sit around in different COs waiting for lunch to see where the specials are!
Lots of us waiting for payout but is anything happening in district 3,9,6?

If the company doesn’t change call routing they will go under, slowly and devastating to employees and customers. Morale is at an all time low across the board. Kareem needs to go. If you know you know. Kareem is the most worthless manager of all time

And it's by design. I almost have the feeling that they enjoy making us jump through hoops, throwing all kinds of obstacles and inconveniences at us just for the heck of it. Productivity and performance be damned. Losing top performers, because they do have a choice? Not important. As long as we are exposed to humiliating rituals and games, all is good.

Reorgs, layoffs, shuffling people around, ignoring bad management but punishing talent, directionlessness, maintenance/decay mode - all of it has made me completely uninterested in the future of Nike, and definitely in my job. I just can't care anymore. If someone had told me eight years ago when I came on board that this would turn into a "just collect a paycheck" thing, I wouldn't have believed them. It's actually sad.

From my perspective in accounting, this keeps happening. They release senior staff to balance the budget, but the underlying strategic errors remain. In my twenty years, I have never witnessed this leading to genuine recovery. It only demoralizes the teams left behind to pick up the pieces with less support.

Says it all really

After 34 quarters and 8 years of decline they wonder why customers leave.

You dont pay anyone for 8 years, but you expect to deliver AI.

These leaders are so out-of touch its unreal.

It doesnt take an id--t to work out why morale is low and the company is failing every qtr.

You need to change your focus to Employee pay to get the best out of your main asset.

A ton of folks were fired today……all about the quota. We lost some really good people. As usual, the compliant cheap useless folks survive.

My team is half of what it's been when I joined seven years ago. Others who are still with the same team, is it the same for you? I'm genuinely curious if this is a common thing.

Morale is trash. Collaboration did not magically appear. Engagement is still imaginary.

That one remote day wasn’t a “perk.” It was the only day people could handle doctor follow-ups and real-life admin that only exists during business hours. Apparently that was too much autonomy.

Now we’re all back, paying for snacks and sodas that aren’t even stocked, drying our hands on air because there are no paper towels, and playing musical chairs with conference rooms because no one books them. Had to kick someone out of a room for my own meeting. Peak teamwork.

Nothing says “we value our people” like taking away flexibility, providing fewer basics, and expecting gratitude. I feel so engaged. I feel so motivated. I feel absolutely compelled to give more than the bare minimum.

If productivity drops, good. If people disengage, expected. If turnover spikes, deserved.

You wanted butts in seats. Congrats.
You got bodies. You lost trust.

Anything less than 100% is corporate greed, plain and simple. The people who stayed are being squeezed dry doing the work of two employees while getting paid for one so executives can protect their bonuses and call it “strategy.”

But by all means, Dan, keep slurping your coffee and pretending this is complicated. If Hans is still pulling in millions, don’t insult everyone’s intelligence by offering scraps. There is zero excuse for anything under 100%. Anything less is a slap in the face, and everyone knows it.

The lack of transparency on this is outrageous. The amount of people that need to approve just one review is excessive and adds weeks of unnecessary delay to an already slow process.

Why do you need 3 people to approve 1 review when there is limited salary increase, lack of promotions and no morale?

Managers, mdirectors,, VPs,,, advisory engineers,, “scientists” are not doing any work in the office and they are alllllllllll getting passes by their supervisors Morale is at an all time low

What if every AVP, VP, and SVP quit at the same time? You think Ds and MDs know what to do? They hardly lift a finger and will have to actually work to earn the money they get 😂. Great idea to float with our teams.

I don't want this post to get washed away by Chevron's HR Trolls. Please help keep it alive and post your thoughts here or on the original post, 8 down.

All time low. I’d say I hope senior leaders see this. But I also suspect it’s by design. Low morale = high attrition

I've been here too long. I don't like my job, my latest team is meh, and compensation could be better. I know beggars can't be choosers, and the job market is tight. What I'm saying is that if I'm cut, I wouldn't be sad about it or consider it my personal failure. Regardless of how much corporations like seeing you devastated. I'm confident that if I'm laid off, things will sort themselves out, as they always do.

You know, the people who actually know how things work. Meanwhile, the leadership ranks just keep getting bigger. I wonder how long this can continue before something breaks.

Another morale booster at Woodcreek :)

We are being so micromanaged now it’s unbearable.

2 in the thoughts and 1 in the prayers for all you delta peeps. Your new CD&TO left a trail of pain and misery at USAA. Don’t believe me? Read any of the dozens of posts on here about her. Best of luck! 🤞

They're all the same. All they think about is how to line their own pockets. That's their one and only goal. Don't expect much to change. I wish I was wrong, but I believe that we're in for much of the same.

What does it say about a company when an employee with nearly twenty years of service is actively hoping to be laid off? That's the situation I find myself in now. I've given this place my all for almost two decades, and the best outcome I can imagine is to be let go with a severance package. That's a clear sign of how far things have fallen and how broken the environment has become.

From where I'm sitting, just relying on layoffs and nothing else to make the numbers look better is a plan to go out of business. The new CEO isn't solving problems, he's just accelerating the decline. Watching the company I once cared about fall apart like this isn't just frustrating, it's genuinely sad.

These execs DO NOT care about you. They speak nicely and then will sc--w you.

America is at a breaking point and we all feel it. My heart goes out to my fellow employees living through these times, lord knows our employer isnt helping things. Pray for peace and less corporate headcount savings.