#worklifebalance

Has anyone went to HR over mistreatment from a superior and had a good outcome? This individual seems to take great pleasure in belittling and putting me down. They only do this to me and when there are no witnesses. This is not a daily occurrence, but has occurred more than it should. On the days that they are not being completely disrespectful they are cordial but still treat me differently than others. This seems to be the norm here with people in "power positions", but we should not have to tolerate it. With everyone being asked to do more with less and morale at an all time low, this is an unnecessary stress added to an already stressful work environment.

I wake up every day scared that today's the day. I can't concentrate. My work is slipping. Is anyone else feeling this, or is it just me?

Humans are not made to withstand so much stress on a daily basis. We really aren't. Even if our physicals health remains fine (and it rarely does) this all takes a huge toll on our mental health. I'm this close to quitting every single day because of this. There's only so much we can all take.

Work your hours and go home. Take your vacation days and actually disconnect. Hit the gym. See your friends more often. Learn something new so you're not stuck here forever. And talk to real people, not just LinkedIn connections.

Anyone else is experiencing longer VPN connection times these days? The tool we used to have took no more than 30 seconds to connect to the corporate network but now with this GP thing it routinely takes 3-5 minutes.

I feel watched constantly. My keystrokes, my mouse moves, my breaks, my location. It's oppressive and intrusive. RTO has ruined this place.

Did anyone else see the post where the Chief Digital Officer was just dancin’ around at some Good Energy Event? I didn’t see her doing any actual work.
This was posted on LinkedIn.

Work’s gotten to the point where the exhaustion never really resets anymore. I’m tense all the time, sleep badly, and barely have energy left for anything outside the job. It’s not just stress at this point, it feels like the place is slowly draining me physically too. I need a new job.

I used to stay late, work through breaks, and constantly push harder thinking it would eventually lead somewhere. All it really did was convince management I could handle even more work without getting anything back for it. These days I save my time and energy for my actual life instead of pouring everything into a company that barely notices.

Hello,
I recently transferred from GLA to WAL. What's the word on the street? It sounds like Tarrytown is in a very precarious situation. Seeing a lot of retirements in Walpole - are they forced early retirements? My friends still in Glasgow still work there but they don't seem to be a part of our huge 6% loss in diognostics

It is deeply frustrating to navigate a demanding, long-distance Return to Office (RTO) mandate while balancing personal caregiving responsibilities, especially when that burden is not shared by the executive team.

The Reality of RTO Disparity

1) Executive Perks vs. Employee Costs: While executives often have commuting costs (limos, premium transport) covered as business expenses, average employees face thousands in annual fuel, vehicle maintenance, and parking costs.

2) The Caregiver Burden: RTO policies disproportionately impact employees with young children, creating immense pressure on work-life balance that senior leadership—whose families are often grown—frequently fail to recognize.Impact on

3) Retention: Research indicates that 80% of companies that enforced strict RTO mandates experienced talent loss, with high-skilled, senior-level staff, and women being the most likely to leave.

What's the point anymore, when I could get cut either way.

I know what's coming and I know I should be looking. But after work I'm so drained that I can't bring myself to update my resume or browse listings. Anyone else feel this way?

I've been casually looking at job boards and I'm mildly put shocked by what I'm seeing. One posting today wanted a single person to run their social media, manage their email marketing, analyze campaign data, handle customer support tickets, train new hires, and manage a small team. That's at least three different jobs. Plus they wanted five years of experience in each area. Plus a degree. Plus full time in office. The salary range was $65k to $75k. Are companies actually finding people willing to do all of this, or are they just posting fantasy descriptions and wondering why they can't fill them? Anyone else noticing this inflation of expectations?

I was in a rut at Ford. Not unhappy enough to leave, not happy enough to stay. I was basically stuck. Then I hit a wall and realized I couldn't do it anymore. The day I walked out, I felt lighter than I had in years. My new role has its own problems, but I don't dread Monday mornings anymore. It comes down to whether you put life before work or the other way around.

I don't think I could care less about work if I tried. Which is sad, because I was one of the highest performers on my team.

Just curious, does our American counterparts unfairly compensated ? Seen so much hatred especially MW and his LT.

Other part of the world,in my side of the world, the trend is the mid-managers got the hatred due to poor leadership skills, not performing yet promoted due to some connections with some American leadership connections so called build relationship.

The era of the lifelong career at Verizon is over. Instead, view your time here as a strategic gig. Leverage the company’s resources to sharpen your skills and build your toolkit, then move on when the time is right. If you don’t plan your own exit, the company eventually will. True career fulfillment lies in knowing when to transition.

I realized there is no reward for trying hard. Arriving early and going home late is not noticed. Extra hours and effort aren’t noticed. Still trying so hard. There is no recognition or awareness of all you do. At best they will say something nice but they won’t give you a bonus or promote you. Just do the minimum and stop trying so hard. If they don’t reward it why do it?

Is there any legitimacy to these rumors? I need flexibility to for my work/life balance and going into the office 5 days a week will make that extremely difficult.

Did you notice how the TTUS feedback they actually paid attention to included the continued demand for assigned seats? Subtext: They will use that as justification for sending us back in five days a week, mark my words. They'll claim it's not achievable otherwise. They don't care what we think or feel, they only care about what serves them, and that serves them.

Great job everyone. /sarcasm

When is the chaos, being led by the blind, and wild expectations going to stop? We have been through the wringer and those of us who have held on hoping things will get better are losing hope! This is the definition of insanity!

5 days in office from September. You heard it here first!

I'm just tired of always doing the extra work and never getting any recognition for it.

I've been asking myself this a lot lately. Would I rather be unemployed and stressed about money, or stay here and be stressed about work every single day? Neither option is good. But if you had to pick, which would you choose?

I used to love working here. Now I hate it, and I can't pinpoint when the shift happened.

Let me list what seems impossible here. Having executives who aren't a complete clown show. Keeping talented employees. Having a work environment that isn't toxic. Recovering from the gross negligence we've seen. I could keep going but you get the point.

Call me lazy if you want, but I'm not the one who reaches for layoffs every time expenses need to come down. There are a hundred ways to save money that don't involve cutting people. They just don't want to do the work to find them. I'm just returning the favor.

Every single person on my team is. Every single one.

I walked away three months ago because I was tired of working sixty-hour weeks. I left my team in a tough spot, but I honestly don’t feel bad about it. I feel great. They created the mess that I kept fixing over and over again, and eventually I got tired of carrying it all on my back. Part of me would still love to see how things are working out for them now that the mule is gone.

Pre-WFH, I've had two managers who obsessed over start times and break lengths. Neither of them actually knew how to lead. They just watched the clock because it was easier than doing their real jobs. It never improved productivity, but it worked for them. Those are the kind of people who want us back in the office. To hide their own failings.

I'm trying to prepare myself the best I can. If you've been laid off, what did you notice in the weeks or months before? Did your manager seem distant? Were you left out of meetings? Did your responsibilities shrink without explanation? I'd love to hear any patterns so the rest of us aren't completely blindsided when that meeting invite shows up.

A Reddit post in r/bell claims that Bell has been firing employees “with cause” for not returning to the office three days a week, allegedly with no severance and no prior warning.

One commenter, who says they were terminated, argues that this is unfair because they were working from their designated office two days a week plus another Bell office on a third day most weeks. They also claim they worked more than the standard 37.5 hours per week and had strong performance reviews.

Their main argument is that, while companies can set return-to-office rules, terminating someone “with cause” should normally require progressive discipline first, such as a verbal warning, written warning, suspension, and then termination, unless the behavior qualifies as severe misconduct. They argue that simply not being in the designated office three days a week, or “coffee badging,” should not automatically count as severe misconduct unless the employee is also failing to work their required hours, which could be considered time theft.

Overall, the discussion is about whether companies are using RTO enforcement as a way to terminate employees without severance, and whether missing office-day requirements should legally or ethically justify a “for cause” dismissal.

Of course it’s not about collaboration. But companies are worse than pre covid with the on office stuff. I know someone at another company that said a senior manager sits by the door to see who is leaving “early”. Like 5 minutes early. Seriously what is going on? All the big companies are doing it. Spending money monitoring stuff that you thought went away in the early 2000s.

Been nixed here.
They are so much into push push push never fast enough do more do more have less time to breathe. It’s awful lately
I had great expectations for this career and each year gets more grueling and demoralizing.
Add the RTO FT and even the layoffs small in number are devastating. I don’t think I can keep up this pace.

I can survive wave after wave of layoffs, RTOs, and offshoring to India as long as they let me rip darts on the front steps again

Has anyone else had a problem with Cigna not scheduling your legally entitled rest breaks? I have had many conversations with my manager about this, and they continue to not give me rest breaks. I have filed a complaint with my state's BOLI 6 months ago, and they have not investigated yet. Am I the only one?

But by now I know the systems, I know the people, and leaving feels like starting over. So I stay. It's stupid but it's honest. I think there are many stuck at IBM with a similar mindset.