#stress

There's nothing I hate more than when layoffs start on Tuesday and then stretch out throughout the entire week. Everything being done in a single day is much better on my nerves.

I just started my career at Nike and I think I made a huge mistake joining. My manager is impossible. Every week he either ki-ls our ideas, adds random nonsense to our projects, or just criticizes for no reason depending on his mood. He doesn't understand the technical work but tells us how to do it anyway. Then later he asks why we did it that way. He interrupts everyone constantly and yells at least three days a week. I'm so tired. Is this the norm when it comes to managers here?

I've worked in plenty of healthcare companies, all ugly and rotten. But this place is next level. You'd think someone would figure out that this much stress, micromanagement, and tearing people down doesn't actually improve performance.

Stressing over layoffs won't change a thing.

It feels like a lot of people are carrying quiet exhaustion right now.
The layoffs.

The uncertainty.

The pressure to “be grateful.
”
The full-time RTO mandates after building lives around flexibility.

The feeling that everyone is pretending things are normal when they clearly aren’t.
If you’re struggling mentally, emotionally, or physically from all of this, you are not alone.
A lot of us are waking up anxious, doomscrolling before work, feeling guilty for not being productive enough, or trying to hold it together while watching teammates disappear overnight. It’s heavy. And pretending it isn’t only makes people feel more isolated.

A few reminders for anyone having a hard time:

• Your worth is not tied to your badge access, productivity score, or performance review.
• Fear is an exhausting long-term motivator. Rest is not weakness.
• Staying connected to people matters more right now than acting “fine.”
• Small routines help: sleep, water, walks, sunlight, boundaries, logging off when you can.
• If work is consuming your identity, try to reclaim one small thing that belongs only to you.
  Most importantly: check on the quiet people too. Sometimes the people saying the least are carrying the most.
  This is a dark season for a lot of workers right now. But I hope we can at least make it lighter for each other by being human again.

Humans are not made to withstand so much stress on a daily basis. We really aren't. Even if our physicals health remains fine (and it rarely does) this all takes a huge toll on our mental health. I'm this close to quitting every single day because of this. There's only so much we can all take.

Looks like nothing is happening. We live to stress another day.

Work’s gotten to the point where the exhaustion never really resets anymore. I’m tense all the time, sleep badly, and barely have energy left for anything outside the job. It’s not just stress at this point, it feels like the place is slowly draining me physically too. I need a new job.

Why do we have both dates mentioned for layoffs? Or will layoffs actually happen on both days? I'm stressed and confused.

Every Sunday night I tell myself that this week I'll definitely start applying. I'll update my resume, browse listings, send out a few. Then the week happens with all the deadlines, meetings, fire drills. By Friday I'm running on empty. The weekend comes and I do nothing. Then Monday rolls around and I promise myself again. I feel like I'm stuck in a loop.

The only thing rising around here is the pressure.

We know cuts are coming, but we don’t know when or any real details beyond that. So now we get to sit around stressing and worrying for who knows how long. I’m sure that’s going to do wonders for everyone’s mental and physical health. I really hate what this place has become and the joke we have for leadership.

I don't know if it's just me or my department. Morale is low and stress levels are maxed out. More and more duties added to an already busy day. Customers relentlessly wanting everything for free, rude, and entitled. Constant fear of being fired even if you make all of your metrics and bonus every quarter. I have worked for Wayfair for 5 years and have not one time have I ever not bonused. Trying to wrap my head around if you fall below one metric for one month you still get a ROD, but I digress.
My mental health wishes AI would just do the damn thing- or a morning layoff email.
Is the stress level climbing in all departments? I know frontline and MC has been getting beat up for months, sadly. How is everyone else holding up?

I used to think stress was just in my head, but now my body is telling me otherwise. I have constant headaches, trouble sleeping, and no energy. My doctor asked if I was okay at work. I didn't know what to say.

They will get to their 30% and another 10k -
The slow drip is ki-ling us

It makes everything so much more stressful. Not that I expected them to care, but still.

Just two years to go, yet every new round sends my stress through the roof. I made it through this one, but now I’m already wondering about the next. Living like this year after year is no way to treat employees.

It’s been almost a year since I was laid off from Sharp, and I still haven’t been able to find a job. I’ve submitted 92 applications, tailoring each resume to match the job description and improve my chances with ATS systems, but I’ve only landed six interviews. At this point, I can’t even secure a help desk or customer support role, despite being willing to take a 50% pay cut.

Even contract positions are difficult to get because so many people are out of work and competing just to survive. More of my family and friends are experiencing layoffs as well, especially in the healthcare sector, where some hospitals are now financially vulnerable and at risk of closure.

My unemployment benefits have ended, while the cost of gas and food continues to rise across the U.S., adding even more pressure on families already struggling to get by. These are deeply difficult and heartbreaking times.

I don’t know about you but I bust my hump working long hard and nonstop rapid pace. I eat at my laptop and I’m feeling like no matter how good or great or exceptional it’s never going to be enough. Add this and sprinkle in AI and globalized competing for jobs but I don’t know how I’ll survive all of this. Literally abc figuratively.

No one really seems to have any idea what’s going on. I think the stress is 100% based on the rto news

If the rumors are true, 90% of us will not be impacted at all. That means entire BUs will not be touched. 10% doesn’t really match Abby’s leadership style.

Life will go on, this company isn’t what it used to be.

These past few years have been a wild ride, and this place has gone so far downhill that I can't even work up anxiety about being laid off anymore. Sure, I'm vaguely worried as the job market is brutal, and the economy is shaky, but I don't have the energy or the attachment to this job to really panic.

I know we're all scared, I am too, but don't take what you read on an anonymous forum at face value.
There is no firm proof. Saying "I'm a people manager" anonymously is like saying "my uncle works for Microsoft" on Xbox live.
Fact of the matter is, if you are on a list whether it exists or not, there is nothing you can do about that until it is communicated to you allegedly in 2 days.
If you want to plan for the worst, great, not a bad idea to have a backup plan regardless of a RIF. Please don't let anonymous Internet posters scare you into getting sick over a possibility. Take a breath.

There’s only so much we can take mentally, and people are already stretched thin. We need a break, a real one, and it should be at least six months without constantly worrying about layoffs. Otherwise, I genuinely think people are going to start breaking down. This isn’t normal, no matter how much they try to make it seem like it is.

I was so scared to leave for a long time. I always thought maybe the problems were me. I've been gone for a year now and I can tell you with confidence it wasn't me. My stress is gone. My weekends are mine again. Leaving was the best decision I've made in a decade.

This stress of Thursday is making me feel sick and reading the last post. Anyone else feeling the same?

I'm struggling here. Every week there's a new rumor about cuts, and just when I think I've got my role figured out, my manager changes what I'm supposed to be doing. I can't plan, I can't relax, and I can't tell if I'm doing well or about to get cut. How are the rest of you surviving this?

Being told to WFH (whole office not just me) Thursday so whoever is saying there is no layoffs is wrong

Let’s just hope we make it through the week. Never ending stress

Gas is creeping dangerously close to $5 a gallon yet we’re still expected to commute into the office three days a week. That disconnect is hard to ignore. Between rising fuel costs, time lost in traffic, the requirement feels increasingly out of step with reality.

What makes it more frustrating is that we talk a lot about “delighting customers” and being “customer-obsessed,” but there seems to be far less focus on the growing stress being placed on employees. It’s hard to sustain that level of care externally when internally, people are feeling stretched, unheard, and impacted by decisions of this AI-obsessed CEO. If the work is getting done just as effectively remotely, it’s fair to question whether this policy still makes sense for both employees and the company.

Can you hear me now Dan?

Yeah, I know you don’t care. Your laughing all the way to the bank.

I am getting to the point I'd rather be unemployed for some time than having to log in every day, man I really think I'm gonna quit soon, no matter what.

And whatever comes, take care of yourselves. No stress. No self-doubt. None of this is your fault.

Did anyone else just basically shut down mentally with the news today?
Really struggling and doomscrolling. This is going to su-k.
Did any work get done today or did we all just fall into a mental void.

Are many of you like me that often have several drinks throughout the day, and are even buzzed often? The constant threat of layoffs, the incompetence of the offshore people and management. Drinking has been my coping mechanism. Mainly wondering if I'm alone in this?

Two people on my team have developed serious stomach issues this year. Their doctors said it's stress related. Both of them! And yet nobody in management seems to care.

Anything new for upcoming layoffs? And what areas? Volume is down, people are being pulled to other areas to work and everyone is being micromanaged. What’s going on. It’s stressful enough here.

And the weird thing is, I'm relatively insulated. I have low expenses, and have built up oversize savings after several years working for a company doing layoffs all the time. I think even if I was somehow fired without severance, I'd probably be fine. But living with the constant uncertainty is ki-ling me. This kind of low-level, continuous underlying stress cannot be healthy. I don't know how people with kids or just less of a financial cushion are doing it.

I'm sure I'll get some trolls in the replies but just curious if anyone can relate.

It's just survival mode at Optum now, constantly restless, constantly anxious. This weekend was especially bad because I know what's coming this week. So damn exhausting.

If you know your stuff, you'll solve any technical problem. But you can't fix toxic. You can't fix dysfunction, disrespect, or incompetence. The people who actually do the work get undermined, questioned, and suffocated by a culture engineered from the top. I've never stressed over a task, sometimes I've even been proud of the outcome. But I dread coming in because of the people and the sick, bloated beast this company is.

Why the WAEM survey is done immediately after the performance harassment cycle , when people are already dealing with the stress of ratings and calibration. Each year, management highlights a few focus areas, but after the results are announced, those topics rarely surface again in team discussions. Given the current cost‑cuttings activities why this one continues? Just don't do it and save money