People who have worked hard and who have loyally stayed here even as the company began its slow sad decline years ago just keep getting kicked while we're down.
What's the reward for staying here and working for people who are incompetent or literally stupid and sometimes worse? More insults, more passive aggression, more decisions that further erode morale when it's already at a historic low.
Internal mobility is a joke. No company would need to even have a special internal mobility policy if people were held accountable for their performance and their effect on the company overall. It started out well enough when the quiet chatter about not being able to advance or further our careers became a roar.
Now no one can change jobs internally regardless of their qualifications without being knocked down multiple levels in their role. It's insulting and humiliating and it's clearly meant to either make experienced employees so angry or discouraged they quit, or it's meant to only afford the youngest employees the opportunity to try different things or escape a bad or dead-end job or situation.
The problem is not that I don't understand why this is being done. I do understand. I just happen to think it might be the most destructive and boneheaded decision I have EVER seen implemented companywide.
If an employee has low performance ratings, by all means not that person back a rung or so if they try to change jobs. I don't necessarily agree that that's right either, because at a healthy and thriving organization, people who are not performing up to standards would be let go so they don't create a toxic environment of allowing poor performance to spread like poisonous mold. but that would at least make a tiny bit of sense, perhaps be a bit logical.
This thing with touting internal mobility all over linked in and then quietly revealing the gotcha moment where an employee is told that if you pursue it, you will be kicked back to career level is beyond the pale. it used to be that you might get knocked back a rung (again, not right imo) but you at least wouldn't lose any of your salary. now that's not the case anymore, the hiring manager can decide to cut your salary.
While we all know it will take an act of god to ever get promoted here again for anyone over 35 or so, and no one apparently will ever be promoted to principal or senior principal or distinguished or anything that like that without an actual religious miracle happening.
So F U, all you fellow old dopes who stuck around and worked your tails off for managers and directors and VPs who shouldn't be running a dollar store let alone a team or department at a global software company. If you weren't sure before, you can be sure now that this company is in its death throes.