#worklifebalance

It's getting harder.

I tune in, do the least I can, stop exactly on time. Some days I do nothing. And those days are getting more frequent.

I understand it's not easy to find a job, but if you invested half the energy into a job search that you do into hating this place, you'd be fully employed somewhere else by now. And you'd be a much, much happier individual. Do yourselves a favor, folks, and move on.

I don’t have the guts to quit, but if they did it for me, it would make the decision easy. That’s where I am right now.

A good life. I was so used to that place that I stayed way too long when I could have been working at a place that has better pay, is actually staffed well, and doesn't have managers who get off on yelling at the rest of us. Give it a try, folks. There are much better employers than Macy's.

I think I've been so stressed for so long that I've finally crossed a hill and now I simply don't give a damn anymore. If they're going to lay me off, fine. It's not as if anything I do will change that decision, so why worry over it? I just do my job and don't think about it anymore. Life's been much better since I adopted this attitude.

It would have saved quite a few jobs, I believe, for those who wanted to stay. I know for a fact I'm far from the only one who'd be happy to take severance and run. It's a win/win, so I really can't understand why it's never an option. I know plenty of other companies that offer VOB.

The bodies are there but the people aren't. Hundreds have already left in their heads. We do the minimum, watch the clock, and wait for the day we can physically leave too. Schwab did this to itself.

Hey,

If you worked at Verizon for 15 years in PA, moved to FL, then all the sudden VZ sells off to frontier, but then you quit after a few years on a Friday, start Verizon on a Monday, do you think Verizon will finally bridge the Verizon time again? Was told that since Frontier bought VZ, all VZ seniority ends, should you ever get rehired at VZ. Haven’t been able to bridge the time and have been denied, since in the language of the buyout, you can’t carry your time over, if he rehired. Been back at Verizon for about 7 years now in the same position as service tech, feeling robbed of time.

You're not doing yourself any favors for doing more at this place.

What do you guys think about it? Pros and Cons? Gotchas?
Sounds too good to be true.

Taking mental sick days is my new norm here. They fu-k with you to the point everything is not okay and I need time to calm my nerves. This is the first time I’ve felt like this in the 19 years I’ve been here.

So Elcio today said a minimum of 8 hours a day in office in order for it to count as being in office, no exceptions.

But also today, the guy in charge of Operations, we over 2000 people on a call said it is understandable if you have to work 6 hours in office and make up the other 2 hours at home, we understand people have life priority and can’t expect everyone to stand and watch the count to be in at exactly 8 hours a day to count as in office when you have an emergency or have to pick up kids or elderly parents.

So many mixed messages.

I asked my manager is it 4 hours a day, 6 hours, or 8 hours minimum in office and he said he doesn’t know what counts, he has never been told. And he said he doesn’t care as long as I do my work since I sit by myself and the rest of the team is in OH, AZ, and MN.

So what is minimum?

Attitude, Resilience, Persistence, Demeanor, Flexibility, Volunteer, Practice your stories, Follow-up, Send thank you notes and much more. I got let go, it took me 10 months to get a new job. Take advantage of LLH career resources, take as many classes as you can. Different career counselors provide their point of view and take things with a grain of salt. Do not let age stop you from moving ahead.

Physical exercise has taught me:
• Discipline when motivation fades
• Resilience when the miles get tough
• Balance when life pulls in many directions

A few years ago, this career became just a job.

My only motivation is pay day, and putting food on the table.

No climbing the corporate ladder
No MVP photo op.
No spreadsheets.
No daily reports.
No metrics.

I do my job to best of my ability and go home. MY job. Not everyone else's.

I think this is how most of us see the job these days, @ct+1kpc62cbh. It's sad that it came to this. But seeing it as anything more is foolish.

Remember, at the end of the day everyone is replaceable. Never think you aren't. Don't ever work harder than you think you should. Just get your work done, go home be with family , take care of your health before any damn job. Sometimes less is more.

I thought we had great working relationships with some brilliant ex-colleagues, but I’ve been cut off after they left the company. It hurts more than I’d like to admit, and it’s happening more often. I genuinely value those people and would really like to work with them again. Why does it happen? I want to keep the relationship but they don’t.

I am paying nearly 30% more for my commute every week, and that’s in my econobox of a ten year old Toyota. I asked my boss if I could WFH one or two days a week. His response was su-k it up, “You don’t hear the people driving those 4WD trucks and SUVs complaining, do you?”

Too many people think complaining online means they have done something to fix a problem. It don’t. It will make you feel better for a little while, but not make change. Remember, rich people and shareholders don’t care about you. You’re a tool to be used until you are worn out and then thrown away. If you die, they don’t care. In fact, dying quickly is the wanted ending. So, how to protect yourself and other workers? Start forming a union. Google the communication worker unions. Google how to start a union. Google success and failure stories. Make contact with union reps. No rich person will pay you your value or respect you and the only way to get those things is to act as a large group. Remember, 5 day workweek, vacation, 8 hours a day are unions. And stop electing people who get paid by rich people to sc--w you.

Start discussing salary with other workers. Management hates it, but can’t stop it. You’ll find out how sc--wed you really are. Don’t get mad at people making more, get mad at management.

Do something. I am.

After seeing so may posts on here about for people getting fired for coffee badging now I’m confused. I understand people who would only swipe their badge and turnaround immediately, but si don’t get why people who stay here for 6 hours would be considered coffee badging. I try to stay at least 6 hours at the office when I go in, but sometimes I like to spend only the mornings there and come back during lunch. If I do this wouldn’t get fired?

The position is being described as “an amazing opportunity” in a “winning company”

The reality is you will be working at a store in a dead mall from the 1970s.

A mall parking lot with creators in it that can swallow your car

A store full of mold and rodents

A skeleton crew of employees

I need this job, I have a family and a mortgage.

By all means: what can I do to maximize my survival probability at this company? Any hints?

I am sure a lot of people need this information today!

This 4 days a week sitting in a cubicle is literally soul crushing. I worked remotely or mostly remotely for years before CVX and only came here under the guise of flexible work and I would give up an annual bonus and $30k a year to wfh. If the hiring market weren’t so dismal I’d already be out.

I read post on this site often about what a manager can and cannot do when it comes to hiring, firing, RIF, salary, bonus and remote work. Here is my direct experience in no particular order of importance. I retired over a year ago and am receiving my pension, so can freely write this. I know some things have changed in the past couple years, since my retirement but most of this was true in the early 2000's when I started at hBBT and is will be true forever at Truist.

1- Managers have the final say on who is hired. However, I never hired any FTE that the people that I manage did not approve of first. i.e. The candidate had to pass the team's interviews and I would have the go-ahead from my team before any offer was made.

2- If you don't get all the salary you can get upon initial hire, chances are you will never get to a salary of a newer hire. i.e. 99% of all new hires are paid more salary than experienced FTE, given the same pay grade. see next item...

3- It is nearly impossible to get more than a 10% salary increase and stay within the same paygrade. To get a real salary increase you have to get paygrade promotion and then the salary increase is capped at 20% increase (promotion) unless we managers can get a Level 3 (L3) (this was CTO level approval in my mgmt chain) to approve...which is almost impossible. If the original salary is so low that the paygrade promotion forces the new salary to be more than 20% then L3 has no say so; they have to approve. Prior to my retirement I got overy half of my FTEs a paygrade promotion and/or up to a 30% salary increase with the smallest salary increase 12%. I had 2 of the FTEs get a two paygrade promotion...from 109 to 111. Hence, it can be done, but most managers are spineless and will not even put for the effort to do so. It took me over 12 months of asking, begging, paperwork, more paperwork, arm twisting, etc.

4- AIP, yearly bonus, are somewhat decided by direct managers. We were given a bucket of money and would allocate a certain percentage or amount to each FTE that was AIP elegible. The higher the paygrade to more amount of bonus was allowed. The higher the performance rating the more bonus amount was allowed.

5- AIP allocation could be and was overwritten by the CTO at his whim. You may have heard stories from a couple years ago of the current CTO stating "It's my money and I will do with it what I want". Yep! it is true. I was there when he said it. i.e the CTO would go in at the last minute and take money from our buckets and give to his teacher's pet people with no regard for we manager. We had NO say so as direct managers. I fought that battle with a previous CTO (not the current CTO), anyone remember Eduardo J?, and HR and lost.

6- HR is not your friend. They tow the company line and will, virtually, stab you in the back while giving you a reach around. Never trust anyone from HR with anything. SERIOUSLY!

7- RIFs are 90% pre-determined. Someone/some group above a line manager is making the decision on who gets RIFed. It doesn't matter your performance, your time in service, or your salary...if someone wants you gone, you will be gone and there is little a line manager can do about it. You are nothing more than a line on a spreadsheet when it comes to RIFs. More on the next item.

8- Line managers do have some say on RIFs...if they put up a fight. In a round of RIFs in 2024, I was given a list that ~45% of my FTEs RIFed, roughly 11 of 25 people. I fought that tooth and nail and got the number whittled down to 5 that were RIFed. I was told by HR, "Your group will have some RIFs. You are not exempt". I picked those 5 names because I knew they could get a better job elsewhere and quickly. It was still a VERY hard decision for me to make. Of those 5, three ended up on a contract doing the same job for more salary, 1 was rehired 6 months later, and the last one moved on to a new company.

9- Take your vacation...every day of it each year. There is nothing that you are doing that can't get done by someone else. You are not the glue holding Truist together. Take your sick days also. Use it or lose it. They are your sick days and there isn't a darn thing your manager or HR can do to keep you from taking your given sick days. If you have a real good manger, be honest with him/her on sick days. Tell them that you need a couple days of sick time as a break from Truist. Good managers will understand. POS mangers will hold it against you and question you and demand a doctor note for every 5 minutes you are away.

10- Lastly, If you have a good manager, you know it. They will do what is right for you...not for them. They will fight for you and your livelyhood at Truist. Most managers are self-serving douch bags that only care about CYA and using you as a stepping stone.

P.S...DO NOT let Truist run your life. It is only a job. Your family, your physical and mental health, your life are more important.

This post is nothing new in regards to WF monitoring employees keyboard/mouse/Teams activity. We have been aware of that since last year. Not sure if all computers at WF are running Skan. If yours has it in the system tray be careful. They are using metrics from Skan to displace people without severance. I know this for a fact so just be sure you aren’t one that takes long breaks or inactive for long periods over days or weeks. Not meant to scare anyone just beware of it.

Does anyone who has an ear to the C-suite or close to it know if another VRP offer will be coming in 2026? I am eligible for it based on age and trying to weigh my options as to whether to wait and see if I get an offer, or just retire from this dumpster fire. This work environment is so toxic and it's not worth it anymore - it hasn't been for a long time actually. Appreciate any insight anyone may have.

Just rest and vest

Don't ever forget it. You're more likely to get laid off if you're skilled, experienced, and outperform than if you're an average slacker who's just good at office politics. The better you are, the higher the chance you're deemed too expensive for a company that cares neither about the quality of its people nor the quality of what it delivers.

AC not working in Burlington everyone is complaining, its so miserable. We're all jammed into these smaller rooms I'm sure all the body heat is not helping. How about let us leave an hr early instead of having this 1 hr social hr!!! The A side is working of course because no one is working over there.

Do IP logs only count during certain hours?

People at my area, secure, with same people , picking same desk are now coming in Friday. Leave computer on over weekends, come in early Monday.

The 2 days on weekends count

Brilliant system by USBank

Earth day eh? They encourage people to to leave laptop on all day and drive to work

For the activity monitoring skeptics. Given how hard charlie fetishizes JPM, still think this concept isn't coming to Wells eventually?

https://fortune.com/2026/03/24/jpmorgan-monitoring-keystrokes-video-calls-meetings-junior-investment-bankers-its-for-employee-wellbeing/

Curious if anybody else works on the weekend and isn't seeing it reflected in the time tracking. I don't work weekends regularly, but need to be in the office for certain software changes/deployments. I've, with my managers acknowledgement, treated this as part of my RTO days, but now I'm out 2-3 days what was previously shown.

I FINALY RELEASED WHAT THE MOTO MEANS.

I heard this moto many times in All hands meetings, they essentially say "Do More with less" in the context of AI, to encourage you to feed your work details to AI so they can train capable models to replace you eventually.

BUT from talking to many engineers in EMEA, which haven't seen a promotion in years now despite having good reviews.

Did everyone in lake Mary get told to wfh? Does this mean what we think it does?

I'm not going to waste time going on and on about the same things but who is actually going in to work at 8/9 and staying till 5pm? Obviously RTO 5 days means working from the office all 5 days but there's no way in he-l the majority is willingly going to go from WFH to now commuting to an office just to sit there for 8 hours.

Everyone I know from 40 to 45 lately has been moving to lateral or even jobs they're overqualified for. Has anyone in this age range been able to move up in the last year or so?

Epam HR and internal big brother tooling make work environment absolutely toxic and anxious. Now we all fight for one position which advertised as “any location”. As a full stack lead, I need to self apply to many so called open roles, to find that i am one of dozens of candidates, pass interviews and find out that my rate card is above SOW. Or someone is better fit, or project postponed, or backfilled etc etc. Total chaos with constant HR pressure, forced vacation days use. I know many people who quit on this torturous conditions like myself

In 2024, when we were hybrid, I used to be genuinely happy going to work. I was energized, motivated, and excited to contribute to the largest telecommunications company in the United States. But after nearly a year and a half of the five-day return-to-office mandate, I feel completely drained.

Every day is a battle — fighting traffic, searching for parking, and then scrambling to find a desk. To make it worse, people schedule meetings during my commute, which makes no sense.

Back in 2024, I felt bright, energetic, and enthusiastic about the work. Now I feel like Squidward, doing the bare minimum just to get through the day. Whenever I am asked to go above and beyond or deal with some ridiculous request, my response is basically that I am commuting or that I will get to it once I can actually find a desk. The whole thing feels like a joke.

To make matters worse, everyone on my immediate team and in my department seems endlessly enthusiastic about chasing more wireless and fiber gross adds. Maybe some of that excitement is real, but a lot of it feels rehearsed. I look around and see people acting energized and engaged, and it is hard not to wonder whether they actually feel that way or are just playing the part. Honestly, the only place I ever see people expressing what this experience really feels like is on this site. In person, people seem scared to say it out loud. It often leaves me feeling like I am the only one being honest about how exhausting and demoralizing all of this has become, especially because I am overshadowed by so many coworkers who seem enthusiastic about their jobs and about taking AT&T to the stars.