#employeerelations

Hans used 5G to try and distract us from reality. Dan is using AI. The long term plan is not dictated by either of these technologies and while the changes and headcount reduction are part of a plan, we will not know what that plan is until it happens. A sell off? A shut down of all stores and migration to resellers? Moving wireline work to the newly acquired Frontier team? We don't know.

What we do know is the constant gaslighting over the years that has become nauseating. Telling us we have the best network and customer service when customers tell us the opposite?

Layoffs will resume Q1 of 2026. I am ready and waiting for my number to be pulled. With the writing clearly on the wall, how many people will be back on this website panicking because they did nothing to prepare for the inevitable? I hope it's a minimal amount but some will be blinded by a new year and an attempt at Q1 kick off meetings to distract the easily distracted.

We have a week left of 2025. Once the clock turns midnight, the peace and quiet is over and the cycle will start again.

Ask questions, ask for clarification when the answer doesn't make sense, and remember you are not valued as a person, you are a dispensable number and will be treated as such very soon. Meanwhile, our executives are raking in millions, annually.

Dan Schulman

Verizon Compensation (2025 onwards)
Base Salary: $1.5 million annually.
Short-Term Incentive: Target of 250% of base salary (prorated for 2025).
Long-Term Incentives (Equity): RSU/PSU grants with target values potentially reaching $9.5M and $20M, vesting over time.
Total Potential: Can reach nearly $60 million, depending on performance.

Anyone else missing their paycheck today?

I’ve heard from a few people that PSGs are being suppressed and advancing to 25 and higher will be much less common than before. I feel long overdue for a promotion (both in performance, % CO, expanded role, and time) but am not getting much support for even consideration. Am I capped out?

Why she is not updating her LI profile? Is she still at Nike?

In the last several years alone, we've had nearly a dozen rounds of layoffs and constant team shuffles. They took away stock options for most employees, cut a ton of benefits, and bonuses are a joke. At what point do you just admit the writing is on the wall? It feels like we're all just waiting for the next bad news to drop.

Sadly, employees are the ones paying the price. I spent years here thinking things would stabilize, but instead it was constant disruption and recurring layoffs. Management keeps experimenting, backtracking, and repeating failures, while workers are treated like disposable pieces. What a joke.

Lately, it seems like more people are just being let go. They're not calling it a layoff, and there's no severance. Just, quietly firing folks, I guess?

Based on conversations with the Works Council, here are the top three actions that the executive board is personally invested in to mold SAP the way they want.

1. SAP is enhancing the Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs) in Europe. This is tied directly to the new Performance Measurement rolled out in Europe. The underlying premise is to give more power to managers to fire whoever they want to. Just give a bad performance for three times in a row and your reports will be automatically on a PIP and susceptible to getting fired.
2. Leanix and Walkme is undergoing a major restructuring in 2026 Q1. They will be moved under Signavio management and there will be new positions created to accommodate for the larger teams. However, only candidates based in Walldorf or nearby areas will be considered for manager and manager of managers positions even if the team is based elsewhere. They already did this at Signavio and we have managers who get to freely travel a lot because they are based at the HQ while 95% of their reports are in Berlin or other areas. Long-term Leanix and Walkme employees will be gently encouraged to leave just as they did with the Signavio management.
3. No more layoffs in Germany in 2026. The rhetoric for teeth brushing will intensify at the end of Q1 when the stock price goes below 200€ at XETRA but the Works Council already has an agreement for no more layoffs in 2026. The point they conceded on was the average salary hike which will be 2% and stock options which will have a very low budget and will be focused on employees who undergo role changes (e.g. Signavio people leads who were DEI coaches but are now development managers). In 2026, the public health insurance is going up by almost 5–6% but the salaries will not. On the other hand, the executive board bonuses are planned to be more than 20 million for CK and similarly higher for other members.

It is not easy to lay off employees in Europe so the executive board has a simple strategy. Divide and conquer. Put employees against their managers and vice versa. Discriminate against employees in regions besides Walldorf and nearby areas so they are against employees in those regions and vice versa. Make board areas competitive against one another so they will fight for budget.

Employees are so busy fighting against one another and worrying about their jobs and paying the bills that no one will question the share buybacks and why so much money is given to the executive board as bonuses. And life will go on.

Merry Christmas everyone and a Happy New Year too.

I can’t sleep after being laid off by digi-wreck a few months back and not finding anything to replace my job. I could not buy gifts this year for my kids and we are all scared.. I tried to apply for fast food, retail, and construction jobs until I find something in IT and they said I was over qualified. We will keep trying. Please don’t forget those of us that were laid off and those that will be losing their jobs next year. It is really sad and very real. I wish they had just told us there was a high possibility of lay offs in advance so we could have searched before the layoffs happened but they didn’t trust their teams . My family does wish you all happiness this holiday season.

In my old company, a colleague had a serious issue with a director and went to HR for help. She documented everything perfectly. Instead of investigating, HR scheduled a mediation where they sided with the director and suggested my colleague was not a team fit. It was a clear lesson that their only job is to protect the company from us. From what I've seen here so far, the same applies here.

Until next year!

I don't know if it's all dc's or just ours, but we have been flooded nonstop with freight to the point that some weeks we are working six days! Which didn't happen when we had three shifts which they got rid of in June now we have two, but thats funny because they brought a modified shift back for a few months till the beginning of this month. We had to work 5 hours today and we will have to work eights Friday and Saturday. And as a nice happy holidays to us they gave us gifts that they had of over stock from gifts with purchase.

Remote employees were once again showered with lavish gifts and people in Milwaukee got nothing. The only give TG the Grinch gave local employees was the gift of paying for more gas to commute, paying more for parking, and extra time in the restroom if you manage to find something to eat at the cafeteria. Bah humbug

I am sending warm holiday greetings and a big hug to all of our customers and managers like the HR leader helping us on this board. You have been with us and donated time and comments to help us. Some customers also hit them in their pocket book to stand with us. I am a single mom who feels disrespected and totally frightened and your help is really gratifying and loved by us all. Happy holidays to all of you who stand with us! I saw a nice email from the CEO wishing us happy holidays and it was nicely written. Maybe the grinch’s heart is warming and the changes we need in the changing of bad leaders will come in January. I am hoping for that more than anything.

Merry Christmas to my underlings,

Let’s be clear: your output this year has been underwhelming at best. You have not fully committed to inspiring and building better lives and communities; and frankly, it’s embarrassing. I need you to work harder next year so my bonus doesn’t suffer because of your mediocrity.

Despite the fact that none of you have earned it, I might throw you a 1% raise, and that’s a big might. That goodwill evaporates the moment I hear another word about the 5-day RTO. I’m beyond tired of the whining, the entitlement, and the endless complaining. Do your jobs, show up where you’re told, and keep your opinions to yourselves.

Go ahead and enjoy whatever time you have with your families now, because starting next week your time belongs to me. Don’t get comfortable, don’t get ideas, and don’t forget who signs the checks.

Sincerely,
Bill

I would like express a Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to all active and retired employees. Wishing you all a wonderful new year and hope that a turnaround of a once great company occurs.

What time did your managers let you out today?

This has all of the signs of getting primed to find a buyer. Shed thousands upon thousands of highly compensated employees with 20+ years of tenure. No rhyme or reason to the ones chosen other than they are too costly to the bottom line. Not looking at the individual persons to see what value they bring to the organization; just treating them as nothing more than a line item on a spreadsheet. Welcome to the new Corporate America. Shareholders are the most important people; no longer the customer (internal or external).
Remember when they used to say "our employees are our greatest asset." Well, they don't say that anymore. They finally realized people are not assets, because they don't own them. People are free to take their talents elsewhere. You also don't layoff assets. People should never be treated like tangible objects.
After the 13K depart, try and make sense of a wounded and abandoned organization that's left with huge holes. Good luck to the ones that are left behind to clean up the mess. Try and pick up the pieces and keep your head above water until you can find the right buyer.
Your largest expense is employee payroll. Shed as much as you possibly can to attract the right buyer.
Just my two cents (pun intended).

It is my first year in DXC and I was surprised to hear there is no 13th salary, no bonus, NOTHING for Christmas. It is the first company I worked for that has such policy, all my colleagues have bonuses every quarter (or at least twice a year), here - nothing. Is it some kind of one time miss due to the hard financial situation or company policy not to care for their employees?

If you missed the 3 days in office average for 2025- you are about to get an “Inconsistently Meets” rating for the year. We had managers in our area that had to downgrade team members from “Exceeds” to I/M. It was escalated up to legal and management was told no exceptions.

I see that the new chair and interim CEO align well with BP's legacy of stupid decisions, which are communicated in the worst possible manner.

I wonder why do they hate the employees so much? To drop such news on Christmas Eve - they have no shame.

For Castrol's employees that only brings more uncertainty. Had we stayed with BP - we would know what's coming. Had they sold us 100% - we would know what's coming, just ask Chat GPT about the previous acquisitions, and you can resonably deduce what might happen.

But this partial sell/joint venture? What a f... mess. It's gonna be organizational nightmare. And yet another reorg and structural changes for Castrol's employees.

(To any members of LT that might be reading this: HONESTLY, WE JUST WANNA DO OUR JOBS AND GET PAID FOR IT. JUST LEAVE US ALONE - 6 YEARS OF CONSTANT STUPID CHANGES IS ENOUGH - AND LET US DO OUR JOBS)

I would bet my yearly salary that in years to follow this will be regarded as yet another failure.

Just look at how the market reacted. ZERO movement. the price after announcement is exactly the same as it was before.

This year’s job market has taken a hit across industries, as higher retail costs led to weaker consumer demand and concerns continued to mount over how artificial intelligence will affect future job creation.

Looking closer at the U.S. Department of Labor’s most recent jobs report in November, the overall economy created 64,000 jobs last month, while unemployment rose to 4.6 percent its highest level since September 2021.

As for footwear, some companies were not so fortunate this year, having to resort to saving their bottom lines by cutting staff. As FN looks back on the year, here are the seven biggest footwear layoffs of 2025.

• Puma Eliminates 900 Positions After Q3 Results
  Puma said in October that it is planning to reduce its “white collar” workforce by 900 positions as part of its third quarter earnings release.

The reduction comes on top of 500 jobs cut in March and means the company will have slashed around 20 percent of its corporate workforce this year.

The cuts come as the German activewear firm blamed a strategic “reset” as it navigates “several company-specific challenges, including muted brand momentum, elevated inventory levels across the trade and low quality of distribution.”

Measures taken so far, including stock take backs and reduced promotional activity, impacted Puma’s performance in the third quarter, both at wholesale and in its own stores and online sales, the company explained.

• Nike Makes a New Round of Corporate Layoffs
  In August, Nike disclosed a new round of layoffs, this time impacting its corporate team.

The move comes after president and chief executive officer Elliott Hill raised the possibility of layoffs in June during Nike’s earnings report for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025.

Nike told Footwear News that 1 percent of its corporate employees will be let go. An email from the company’s leadership team informed employees of the realignment.

“Change can be difficult. It can also be what sharpens the edge, aligns the team and sets up the win,” the email, signed by Hill and members of the senior leadership team, said. “And the ‘W’ is ours to take, embracing an athlete mindset that leads with passion, commitment and determination.”

• Vans Owner VF Corp. Has Rounds of Cuts
  In May, a VF Corp. representative affirmed the news that the company has made further job cuts. “Over the past few months, VF has been working to reorganize select commercial functions globally, as part of the company’s ongoing business turnaround,” the rep’s statement said.

The rep also noted that the reorganization has impacted approximately 400 employees globally, across VF’s brands and throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia regions.

The round of layoffs in May come a few months after VF announced further job cuts in new “reorganization” efforts back in January. At the time, the company did not confirm the total number of employees that were affected.

• Adidas CEO Confirms Company Will Cut 500 ‘Obsolete’ Jobs
  Adidas chief executive officer Bjørn Gulden confirmed in March that the sports company will eliminate 500 roles.

On the company’s fourth quarter earnings call with analysts, Gulden said that these roles are “obsolete” after undergoing a strategic review to simplify operations at Adidas’ Herzogenaurach, Germany, headquarters. Adidas has around 62,000 employees around the globe, Gulden noted on the call.

This confirmation comes after an Adidas representative told FN in January that Adidas was looking into cutting jobs. The rep told FN that these cuts were are not part of a cost savings program but instead are aimed at “reducing complexity and ensure sustainable success in the future.”

• Clarks Sheds Over 1,200 Jobs
  In July, Clarks revealed in a Companies House filing that it reduced its workforce by over 1,200 employees in fiscal 2024.

The filing noted that it ended fiscal 2024 with 6,161 employees, down from 7,413 in fiscal 2023. It also stated that approximately 220 of those eliminated roles were global corporate positions.

In a statement sent to FN in July, a Clarks representative said that 2024 was “a year of challenging market conditions which had an impact on global performance.”

• UK Footwear Retailer Schuh Makes Cuts
  In January, Schuh managing director Colin Temple said in a statement that the UK-based footwear retailer would implement a new round of layoffs.

“At Schuh, our people have and always will be our most important asset,” Temple said in a statement sent to FN at the time. “Due to ongoing challenging economic conditions and rising costs, we have made the difficult decision to restructure our business. We are going through a voluntary redundancy process in some areas of business.”

While the exact number of employees affected by these cuts are unknown, Temple added that he will not be commenting any further “in the interest of respecting our employees during this time.”

REI Co-op Shutters Its Experiences Business After Nearly 40 Years
After nearly 40 years, REI Co-op shuttered its Experiences adventure travel business in January. With this move, 428 employees — including 180 people in full-time roles and 248 part-time guides — will be laid off.

“We have gone through many iterations and have explored multiple options to keep this business up and running to preserve jobs. We’ve held out as long as possible, but the fact remains that Experiences is an unprofitable business for the co-op, and we must adjust course,” REI chief executive officer Eric Artz said in a note to employees that was shared with FN.

Will the company survive another year ? And if so, how many employees will it have

He said: “The transition of our associates to Infinite is a strategic initiative to elevate client’s experience”

He needs to crawl (no pun intended) under his desk and hide. Not single onboarding document I completed last July was online - download, print, sign, scan, upload and email, do this 15 times, no a single online video, not a single document!

This is nothing than a tax evasion scheme crafted by Frank, now executed by Mike and his brown nosers! IRS will come hard on this company! Give it time!

Way too many woe is me post, I never saw it coming posts and how can they do this posts.

What world do you live in where a company has your best interest at heart?
Let’s level set. Citi has never cared about their employees, its all about the bucks.
Citi never takes into account your feelings on no promotions, no raises, no bonus’s or layoffs. It’s about the number and perception. How does it look to the shareholders is all that matters.

Quit acting all shocked and surprised if you get the axe. Always assume that you WILL be let go, its just a matter of time. This puts things into perspective and helps you prepare.
It’s just a job guys. Its not a religion. Its unwise to bank (play on words) your whole future on always working here forever or I’ll always be getting a raise. Just remember, they could care less about you. You are a commodity, an asset to be used and discarded at will. By Citi’s own actions, you’d think you’d have caught on by now and have realized this.

You know how they say “it’s a blessing in disguise”? That’s what a layoff at Dell is. It’s a blessing actually.
If you want actual work, growth, no-nonsense culture, it’s better to run away from Dell.
Recently I joined a new company after my layoff and I am so happy with my work now. I actually have some growth opportunity .

Schulman, Happy New Year 2026!!! What keeps you up at night???
Keeping Talent
No Clear AI Plan
Overload of Priorities
Tired Team
No Time to Think
Less Customers due to a lack of Trust
Reputation at Risk
Struggling Middle Managers
Culture Cracks
Conflicting Demands
Technology Moves Fast
Feeling Alone at the Top

The Tyson beef plant/facility closes on January 20, 2026 in Lexington Nebraska town of 11k. This is per AP.

Not cool. Let that sink in!

Happy holidays…not.

Phil going to die with his company in the gutter.

Shareholders underwater.

Employees underwater.

ESPP hasn’t been relevant for 5 years given sharp decline.

Annual bonus was and will continue to be below 100%.

How embarassing.

That’s Verizon in a nutshell. After everything that happened this year, I don’t know a single person who’s not desperately looking for a new job.

Announced rebadging for E Content Shared Services: EDMS CMS LMS and OCR affected. ?/130 members number currently unknown.

Pay all employees in RSUs only. No base. No PSP. Only RSUs. Let’s see those slackers then.

Disclaimer: due to local regulations, EMEA folks will continue to get a symbolic €1/month base. Ba dum tiss.

JD, hit me up if you need a chief of staff in your next stint ;)

When do employees find out? And then will they be walked out same day or 2 weeks still?

When do managers find out? Will it be same day or before their employees do?

My boss has crossed the line several times, even showing me na--d pictures on his phone. I feel like it’s pointless to go to HR due to the fact they will just collude with my boss to protect the company. This all happened all a company sponsored lunched

The overall atmosphere, the way teams are managed, and the direction from the top just keep declining. There's no big, single event to point to, but the slow grind of it all is wearing. You notice it in every new policy and in every decision that seems disconnected from the actual work. This place has changed so, so much in recent years, and none of it for the better.

I was ISP’d at the end of August as part of ER. If you’re one of us have you received your severance payment? I have not and have emailed HR Help three times and have not heard back from them.

Treat your job as a lease, not a mortgage nothing is guaranteed. You’re given a space to contribute, and in return, you receive compensation. I’ve been there nearly 30 years, and that’s how I’ve always approached my role. This mindset helps you keep your sanity, and when you’re no longer needed, you can pack up, move on, and find something new and challenging.

Wells Fargo & Co was sued by a former manager who says he was fired for pushing the bank to create a more diverse workforce and objecting to its practice of interviewing minority applicants for jobs that were already filled.

Joseph Bruno claims in the lawsuit filed Thursday he tried for years — and often failed — to persuade the bank’s executives to live up to the company’s stated diversity and inclusion goals.

He was the first person to publicly claim in 2022 that Wells Fargo had been conducting sham interviews of minority candidates. The bank did this, he said, so executives could say they were making concrete efforts to diversify its workforce.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-12-19/wells-fargo-sued-by-ex-manager-who-said-bank-faked-diversity?embedded-checkout=true

My bonus was negligible compared to what it could’ve been. The primary reason was “limited impact”. This comes as a shock. I can only guess they hoping I voluntarily leave so they don’t have to pay severance.