I forgot what thread this surfaced in, so I started a new one. I spoke with a current employee last night and learned that the office shuffle email includes:
—T and U will be emptied
—the cafe in T will be supplanted by (resurface as?) the cafe in A
—employees in R are being shuffled around; no window offices for those who aren’t in the office at least two days per week
14 replies (most recent on top)
"employees in R are being shuffled around; no window offices for those who aren't in the office at least two days per week"
That's #SASlife!
I left SAS and my (non-corner) window office in R for greener pastures.
The corner office in my new gig has windows with a beautiful view. It's equipped with a comfy bed and has a private bathroom with a shower just steps down the hall. There's a private outdoor workspace where I can hear the relaxing sounds of nature while I work. The breakroom/full kitchen is stocked with healthy and nutritious food, so no more pre-packaged junk food or mass-produced cafeteria slop. My commute has been drastically reduced to the point that it's no longer painful, and I have an enclosed parking space that I never have to fight for. As a result, my auto maintenance and fossil fuel expenses are reduced, as is my carbon footprint. My dog comes to work with me every day, and we take stress-busting walks together when I need to clear my head. Oh, and I make more money and keep more money than I did when I worked for SAS.
That's #WFHlife!
@lehc+1sCP7Ce1 These people aren’t moving on. They enjoy whining about how bad it is rather than having the courage of their anonymous convictions and leaving.
Dear SAS employees,
Please become intimately familiar with the Serenity Prayer:
"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference."
Here at SAS, nothing changes. Do not fight it, as it is fruitless. Move on to a place where you will be effective.
No more window offices???? My home only has two dozen windows.
Excellent post by @stn+1sCP7Ce1 - the once mighty SAS campus will continue to contract until there's nothing left. We can hope that the Goodnight foundation will donate the land to a good cause.
“The culture became stagnant”
Indeed. The real SAS culture has not changed in 30 years.
SAS had an illusory culture. It appeared to be an idyllic place. But that idyll depended on revenues. Revenues depend on innovation. The real SAS culture stifles innovation.
In my decades in R&D, I saw people gaslighted, browbeaten, punished, and pushed out of the company — for having ideas. The only welcome ideas were the manager’s. SAS was a place to work quietly: don’t make waves, don’t rock the boat, shut up and do as you’re told.
Consequently, SAS stopped innovating. In the ‘70s, the SAS PROCs, DATA step, and supervisor were innovative. In the ‘80s, SAS MVA was innovative. But name one innovation in the past 30 years that produced a major new revenue stream.
You can’t. There weren’t any.
There were small innovations in the past 30 years; some fine work was done. But the original innovations produced steady revenues for decades. They supported the illusory culture. Underneath, the real SAS culture never changed.
The real SAS culture stifles innovation. If anyone was tasked with stewardship, with maintaining that culture — they succeeded.
Previous comment is spot on.
it's possible that the harrison avenue gate will be moved further back onto sas campus drive after the office moves. the land forward of it could be added to the umstead or even sold or commercially developed. at least then the land would be generating revenue instead of sitting there doing nothing.
because the buildings are absorbing resources as long as they sit unoccupied. they still need to be maintained and patrolled by security if only at a bare minimum level. they tried leasing the older buildings, only one has been leased if I recall. so why not knock down the others and move the gate back?
I have no sympathy for how the mighty culture has fallen here. i've been here long enough to remember when people from Google and other companies came to Cary HQ to study how the on-site facilities were provided, etc. SAS was a pioneer in that regard.
the problem is that the culture has not been actively managed since then. which is why it has degraded so much. just like the software and services, the culture became stagnant. there was no active nurturing or striving for continuous improvement. No one seemed to be paying attention to whether what has always worked was still working.
to put it bluntly, the steward of the corporate culture said "ahhh, perfect! it's just right." and then put it on autopilot, and no one seems to have held her accountable once SAS started slipping in the GPTW rankings.
it's not like no one saw it coming. the results of those surveys revealed year after year things that were not attended to. many of us are paying for that leadership neglect now.
it's not our fault for example that some people have been allowed to stay in jobs, especially leadership roles, where they are not only not performing as they should be, but in fact them remaining in those roles is actively hurting entire teams and departments of people. But they have the right influential friends in the right places, so productivity and engagement suffer.
it's not our fault that that way of doing business - prizing stability over progress and efficiency - led to too many people now being at senior and principal levels in their roles. it's not our fault that people who started working here in 1985 are still doddering along in effectively in their jobs after so many years, which has left a huge number of qualified and intelligent people unable to advance out of individual contributor roles.
I could go on. The state of the company has me very agitated lately. The leadership clamming up and not sharing any information isn't helping. neither is the silence from the office of ipo readiness. beep beep beep, hello Steve Bennett, come in Steve Bennett!
Umstead extension with high-end indoor music venue
Can you imagine the value of that land...to just sit there, unproductive? JG is a real estate mogul, I imagine hes going to do something with it. Preston 2.0? SAS retirement community? Cary Academy College?
My guess would be that they are researching the possibilities for how to transform that land into something productive. I doubt the current buildings can be modified to create anything feasible, so teardown seems plausible?
Rather sad to contemplate for this old (and grateful to Dr. G for the work environment he created) SAS employee.
I don't believe the older buildings will be demolished anytime soon. The only reason to tear down old buildings is to put up new ones, and new office buildings are not needed in the current market.
If they want a different type of building, demolition might make sense. That could make room for the SAS/CCRC (SAS Continuing Care Retirement Center), with its hefty discount for former employees 😁.
The thread was in https://www.thelayoff.com/t/1sub0nMv
In one thread there was speculation that some older buildings would be demolished.