I’ve been frequenting this site for months — reading, contemplating, and posting. Many of you have probably read some of my posts, including my Open Letter to the Board of Directors.
The last couple months have been really tough for me from a mental health perspective. I’ve spent a lot of time on sites like these, just refreshing and doom scrolling. Reading posts as they came in gave me some feeling of control, like knowing about something before it happened would somehow change the outcome.
I read every single post about the tragedy a few weeks ago. I read as people expressed heartfelt condolences to the family, I read as people expressed frustration and anger about how something like this could happen. and why something wasn’t done to prevent it. I also watched as people shared fake news articles, spread vitriol, and made the tragedy about themselves or used it as an opportunity to get on their own personal soapbox about something unrelated. It was shameful.
USAA isn’t the same company that it was 10, 5, or even 3 years ago. By no one’s estimation is the company better off today than it was before Wayne. Employee morale has been decimated and members are waking up to the fact that the company is resting on its laurels.
And yet, there’s not a damn thing I can do about it. Every single avenue to voice concerns is a dead end. Pulse champ, Pulse survey, The Post, Slack, manager, skip level, and even external sites like Reddit and TheLayoff all lead to nowhere. Nothing is going to stop Wayne, Amala, Tamla, and the rest of Wayne’s Weasels from turning USAA into a shell of its former self. Every official medium for expressing feedback is a checkbox to say “we listen to employees,” not to sincerely solicit feedback on how to improve.
The RTO date has come and gone. Most of us are back in the office now like good little boys and girls, just like Papa Wayne wanted. I for one don’t hate working in an office, but that doesn’t change the fact that the company violated its own Core Values to hire people as remote then unilaterally renege. It speaks to Wayne’s Machiavellian personality of manipulation and disregard for the well-being of the individual. His only interest is his own self-interest.
The only solution that I see is to ride out this wave to its inevitable end. There’s no amount of posting or reading on here that’s going to change anything.
Constantly reading “PIPs are being handed out like candy” won’t prevent someone from getting put on a PIP if they are targeted.
Hearing rumors about upcoming layoffs won’t prevent those layoffs from happening.
Hearing about benefit cuts won’t keep those benefits intact.
But they will make you angry, make you anxious, and steal your peace. And there’s not a job on this planet that’s worth that.
So, for now, I need to distance myself from this site. The plan is to do my work, avoid drama, save as much money as I can, and hope that I and everyone reading this can weather this storm until Wayne is gone.
If you find yourself dwelling on negativity, having trouble sleeping, having anxiety or panic attacks, I encourage you to do the same.