I used to be so proud of my work ethic. I always stayed late, took on extra, really cared. Now I feel like a total fool. The workload after the layoffs didn't decrease. It increased, because the people left are burned out and the lazy ones are still lazy. So those of us who still try are doing even more. I love what I do, I really do, but I'm so tired. Tired of working my butt off every day for a place that doesn't value me. And here's the thing. I'm probably getting cut in the next few months anyway. So why am I still doing this? Why am I not just coasting like everyone else? I'm starting to think that's the smarter move.
20 replies (most recent on top)
What’s that saying? The best time to stop trying was years ago. The second best time is today?
@qh Are they hiring?
@OP You need to find something new. I left the bank last year and it’s been very refreshing. I had lost hope like you, but didn’t realize how bad it really was until I found a new culture. I now look forward to everyday, I’m given very specific goals to accomplish without micromanagement oversight, and generous financial rewards for success. It’s pretty straightforward, do your job well and we will leave you alone and reward you. USB treats their employees like they are toddlers that can’t be trusted.
Just stop trying when you feel the company had stopped trying. It's that simple
@OP Are you in Dealer Services? DS is about to get hit hard over the next 3 months.
@op first, by not going above and beyond (which just means free labor for them) you are still doing your job. If everyone else “coasting” means then doing what they were hired to do then again, they are doing their job. People have realized how much doing beyond your job responsibilities gets them and it is nothing. I just remind myself that my epithet won’t say “exceptional performance at US Bank”. People can sh-t on Covid and blame it for whatever but the fact is it was a punch in the face for the working person to realize like oh sh-t I have been a voluntary pawn. Work is work, we are replaceable, so treat the things that really matter with care cause we don’t get much of the day with the kids, grandparents, our own wellness, etc. it is a mindset change. You got this.
@cf It was no different in the 2010s or the 2000s. Attrition is the key. The first few years, people are new and naive enough to think it's unusual or temporary or about to change.
It never does.
Pay attention to anything the company posts about employee milestones - the numbers are always largest for those reaching 10 years. Then the numbers drop at 15. Even further at 20. 25 is low. Anything above that is truly rare.
Firing longterm employees who they feel earn too much, combined with employees jumping ship once they realize nothing ever changes, leaves little in the way of legacy that can confirm to the newer folks that, no, it will never change.
The writing was on the wall in 2023 with the UB acquisition when we were told we would not be receiving any support for the extra full time jobs required to do the merger work our ridiculously small team was responsible for. After breaking our backs and pulling several all-nighters that year with no recognition or additional comp/bonus to show for it, I had no one to blame but myself for volunteering my free time after hours.
I told my manager in early 2024 I respectfully declined the "opportunity" to take on yet another full-time responsibility, for free or otherwise. I would no longer be the company's solution to their staffing shortage and I would be working no more than 40 hr weeks going forward.
My manager was actually one of the good guys but their hands were tied and we both knew it. It was a battle the entire year with Sr leadership constantly trying to force more work down on us because of the historical high output we were known for year over year. But we were over it so they spun an ugly narrative about our entire team and other such petty retaliation tactics. Truly the horrible human beings you read about in Wall Street scandals.
The moral of the story - Stop trying immediately. "Do more with less" never was and never will be a temporary strategy. Their intent was always to take advantage of their workforce as part of the cost cutting plan to increase value for shareholders so they themselves can rake in millions in bonuses and equity. You could have decades of high-performance recognition and achievements but now it's all completely meaningless under the current leadership. Erased and replaced with a number.
Been doing bare minimum since RTO was enforced 11 days a month. Now with new requirements, i work below bare minimum since the company does not care about me. At this point I really dgaf.
They just want you to quit so they get to send your job to Chennai India. You trying to work is not helping them or yourself. Quit trying and coast already!
Honestly I used to be the same way. Worked hard, had pride in the work I did, felt valued…..until I didn’t. Through the culture change and a series of layoffs I recognized really quickly my years of service no longer mattered, I was just another number or dollar sign in an organization, and now working for a severely under qualified leader that got her role due to others more qualified losing theirs. I suffered in silence a bit, was waiting out for “this too shall pass”, and it didn’t. The USB of the RDK days are over, and at least some of us have the memories of what it once was.
I hear you, I feel the same way. I work in the credit card fraud department and I used to be so zealous to learn something new and grow and I would always be eager to take on more work. I used to be so excited about work and I always wanted to help. Then they started laying off good people in my department, always threatening layoffs and I am remote and not close to any hub. They just are replacing us with these people in India and pay them $11 an hour instead of a stateside worker for $22 an hour. The morale is dead in my department, they got rid of the monthly newsletter and I feel they just want us to quit. I feel why give these people my effort it when they treat us this way. I now just do what’s assigned to me and nothing more and I’m just trying to hang in there until I find a new job.
I give the bank my 8 hours a day they pay for. At 5 pm, im out and computer is off and phone is on silent. Need to meet a deadline and expect me to stay late?, good luck without me as i will be home with my family not working.
Honestly, the MC has made it clear that form matters to them more than function, so it's hard to blame you for adopting the company culture being dictated from the top.
I stopped trying when Gunjan told us to make friends and stop complaining and the final straw was the RTO and no raises. Bare minimum at work, no more late hours and I’m happier at home. It’s a win for my personal life. She thought she would break me but I’m winning in life meanwhile she lives one block from work, work is her life because she has no life. Miserable people like her, treat people like sh-t but will end up eating sh-t themselves.
The best time to quiet quit would have been the day they mandated us back to the office. The second best time is right now.
I think you answered your own question. For your own wellbeing, stop doing more than the bare minimum. It's a hard habit to break, but many of us have had to do the same thing. The idea of being rewarded for hard work is a myth. The "pay for performance" is a lie. Do your job, take every minute of time off you earn, do not stay late voluntarily, and you will start to heal.
Sounds like you are in commercial customer service
For me it it was around June 2025
@OP You do whatever makes you happy.