Thread regarding Northwestern Mutual layoffs

No stupid cutting boards this year, no time off for family, no one says Happy Holidays better than NM.

We can't even have a Town Hall for Christmas without diversity being shoved down our throats. This place is insane.

Nothing at all.. It is like watching two leaders have a conversation. It is a waste of time

Interesting how some of the posts from this morning have been deleted. Someone must have struck a chord with a good post.

As noted earlier, this morning’s rendition of the weak-end was fake and plastic. It’s a vibe that permeates nearly all of them.

True company culture always cascades down from the top. This 30 minute meeting is a fantastic view into that culture.

I tuned in as a prospective Northwestern Mutual customer to learn more about the company as I have heard good things. After watching a few sessions, it was clear I will not be a customer. If they treat male customers the way they treat male employees I want no part of this company. The WIT conference is an embarrassment to NWM.

Well I learned from the WIT conference today, NM does not like men or non binary people, seems like they are evil. I do not work for this company but internal people say the leader who puts this one is what we experienced today.

Good luck to the the NM employees it did not come off great as a sponsor.

The WIT conference is very disturbing. The amount of hate, divisive narrative, passive-aggressive tone, and self-victimization is alarming. I can't believe NM is sponsoring something like this. There is no way NM or any company should have their name associated with this conference. What a toxic work environment it must be working with these people presenting. Shame on you NM, shame on you.

I just want them to talk about their vacations and their perfect lives, shirtless CM our next CEO, he’s our Jeff Bazos. It gives me hope, yes I will be successful along with 90 percent of the company and yes merit will be 0-1.5 this year they are living their best lives.

The workers should be called SLT, sacrifice for your leadership team!

Lastly why in the world do any white males ever apply or work at NM? I have worked at a lot of companies but this is the most work I’ve worked at. The irony is look at the SLT, all white males it feels like they trying to make up for this.

As a minority there is a different standard compared to my white counterparts, for me it’s good. My peer was not offered a promotion though their experience, time in role, along with an expanded role would justify it they offered it to me after just be promoted 4 months prior. HRB/G said it helps the department metrics, I did turn it down as I felt I needed to deliver in my current role. My mentor said is was foolish to not take it, taking the stance you need to take what they give you. Some you are at NM 3-4 years your career options in NM dries up.

Unhappy? Who could possibly be unhappy at NM? You have:

• No 401k match for the 3rd year in a row
• Another "successful" rating coming your way
• 0% merit increase (even as Social Security gives an 8.7% increase)
• You can celebrate a 20 year old coming in as a Sr. Director making twice as much as you and rubbing it in your face
• The privilege of hearing that it was the best year ever but because of a comp ratio you don't get to share in it
• The joy of working each day between Christmas and New Years once again
• Male employees can enjoy being degraded at the WIT conference
• Watch your younger coworkers play ping pong all day while you work 14 hour days
• Get DE&I shoved down your throat daily
• Watch a grown woman play with a toy alpaca all day and receive 4 promotions
• Rejoice in all the people doing anything and everything except working on Slack
• Listen to babies cry about their pronouns and self-identity
• Spend the CIO's time complaining about some marginalized issue beyond his control that affects 0.00001% of the world's population and congratulate the person for being "vulnerable"

Ahhh the-week-end. I watch this and cringe. Certainly an attempt and I’ll give it that but wow, what a collection of uninspiring leaders of Northwestern Mutual. Did you ever watch the Sound of Music when the kids are singing after Maria left? They attempt to sing and be happy but cannot. NM’s Maria left long ago. Apologies if you haven’t watched the movie - put simply the place lacks any inspiration.

We attempt to work but, well, the hills are no longer alive…..

Can’t wait to hear what drool will be dispensed this Friday.

I think it's a nice gesture. Otherwise people would complain that senior leaders don't listen or address big questions. I don't get as much value because most of the questions people ask tend to suck.

A few examples:

• Why can't you hear the cries of my marginalized group? (someone having a crisis because they see their legal name in some legacy system)
• What's the deal with parking? (I know this matters to some people, but this is on a long list of boring questions we waste C-level leader time with. Maybe ask the security guard in the tower, that seems more appropriate)
• What's up with our toxic work culture (or some other one- or two-sentence mud someone is lazily trying to get stick to the wall).

If you're looking for value, may I suggest skipping the meeting and watching the blowhards and snowflakes in #the-weekend slack commit career su----e by obnoxiously dissing senior leaders and generally complaining about some answer they didn't like?

On a good week, you may even see a vague threat (always from junior employees) that they'll quit... or everyone will go to Meta or something (lol). The outrage topic changes every month or so. Earlier in the year it was funding travel for out-of-state abortions, now it's NM ignoring trans health or something.

I enjoy hearing the latest HR non-answers/attempts to spin. It's also insightful to see what the DE&I/Alphabet Soup folks are worked up about next. But it's a pretty low-value affair.