#favoritism

has anyone noticed company treat H‑1B employees like rare Pokémon during layoff carefully protected while the rest of us get tossed like common cards?

Ah, the time of year where the company creates this jealousy & favoritism vibe with peak awards, many folks in my org who got it marginally deserve, but others who work tireless hours got not even a nomination…i flirted with jealousy and feeling some type of way til i was reminder many of those who got laid off were peak/winners circle, etc award winners, so in the end, does it matter?

Can anyone remember the last time a promotion went to the most qualified person, and not just someone's friend or relative? I feel like genuine merit-based advancement doesn't exist at this company anymore. How are we even supposed to stay motivated in such an environment?

For a large corporation exxon is the run worst. I truly hate the place and people at exxon. The toxicity, gossip, underhanded backstabbing, favoritism,neopotism and extreme bureaucracy are impossible to tolerate. Promotions are based on who you are and how much the supers and managers like you. If you are a snitch also helps with promotion as well. Employees who move up on the backs of others. I have never worked at such a vile, disgusting and evil place in my life. I am on the way out as my ranking is dropping but I don't care. I was constantly told I needed to work harder or longer hours so I did sometimes 60 hours per week. It was never enough though. Meanwhile other employees only worked 35 to 40 hours per week. These others were protected individuals. I was given a good rating while the protected got excellent. It is a totally unfair and rigged system that I am sick of. I am leaving to join a smaller company at 2/3 the pay off exxon. The insurance is better and I get the same amount of vacation. The working environment is not toxic and the employees are happy. There is no forced ranking or pds system. I tolerated 8 years at this he-l hole and cannot take one more day at it.

I’m very satisfied with the outcome, especially seeing some leadership changes within DVN. Unfortunately, certain individuals were placed in leadership roles they were not prepared for. In Lea County specifically, the superintendent J.C has consistently shown poor judgment, an inability to make independent decisions, and a pattern of advancing personal relationships rather than merit. Like J.M

Moving forward, we need reliable, decisive leaders who can take ownership, make tough calls, and lead teams effectively, not individuals who rely on favoritism or avoidance.

Washington state hiring managers are all corrupt. The majority of Washington state jobs that are announced first get offered to current "well connected" state employee's family members and close friends. You may be contacted and asked to do an interview, in which you think you got a chance at the job, but you don't. You are really being used as a suc_ker to meet the minimum number of interviews the State hiring manager is required to do. It's still a waste of your time unless you are connected, because the Washington state hiring managers have already chosen a family member or close friend and quietly offered the job to them before they even contact you asking you do an interview. So, consider all Washington state jobs posted as a sham and don't waste your time applying.

Found this interesting Reddit thread for yesterday.

https://www.reddit.com/r/IBM/comments/1qot69r/workplace_politics/

Gave me much relief I am not the only one feeling and experiencing this at IBM. I attend the Albany Research center in New York and the location is entirely run on politics. Nepotism, cronyism and favoritism rule the site. It’s run by a small group that has been in charge since the beginning. Merit and hard work and accomplishments mean little here what matters most is if you are one the favorites. It seems the locations intended is for personal gain of small group and their acolytes and not for semiconductors.

To survive or to have a job you need to be the favorite's person under management compared to other associates even though other associates works more it won’t be the enough as long as their favorite person works they elevate but they doesn’t know how that person finished the work.
This is in GBD very first team in ..

Quick observations from colleagues across Fidelity sites:

Heavy reliance on personal networks for hiring (often relatives/friends from India via H-1B/transfers) → opportunities stay within tight groups.
Frequent non-English communication (Hindi, Telugu, Tamil) in teams → harder for others to participate fully.
Some regional cliques/tensions (North vs. South Indian) → minor friction in team dynamics.
Manager concentration in NC (Raleigh-Durham) and Boston → Westlake (TX) employees feel work gets less recognition, with favoritism toward co-located East teams (“out of sight, out of mind”).
A few ex-Infosys/TCS folks bring limited knowledge-sharing habits → siloed work, reduced collaboration, and poorer team culture in affected groups.

Anyone seeing similar patterns in Westlake, NC, Boston, or elsewhere? Share anonymously below—helps gauge if it's widespread or team-specific.

Supposedly some former and current managers in North Carolina have spilled the beans on the best of belk awards which usually transpires in March or April. Of course the specific qualifications for the award are still unclear to most associates, and it appears the awards are based on politics and favoritism, which is illegal and can be construed as workplace discrimination. Of course Belk corporate claimed the awards were no different than ‘employee of the month’ but some claim that extra discounts, gratis and other small perks that are given only to select associates are discriminatory and possibly illegal.

There has been blatant favouritism going on since past two years within our team.

This manager has been dangling the carrot right in front of me in the name of opportunities, yet has never recognized me for my efforts.

All while pushing this pet on my a$$ to "learn my tasks"

What's that supposed to mean for me?

Targeting the level 15 was long overdue. Most of them were promoted due to favoritism and not talented and do not contribute anything significant over a level 13.

Many of the grade 15 I knew were given LoP out of favoritism, failed many deliverables and instead of being put on PIP, was covered by their manager pulling corporate politics. The 15 were getting paid more than midpoint.

The majority of 15 in TOS are a serious waste of the department budget and I approve of them getting laid off and they won't be missed.

There’s a particular flavor of workplace dysfunction that thrives in Chicago offices, and it’s the kind everyone pretends isn’t racist, s-xist or classist because they call it “fit” and “professionalism.” But we see it. Who gets promoted. Who gets visibility. Who gets coached. Who gets written up for the same thing someone else gets praised for. HR isn’t confused; they’re complicit! The end! IF you dare say something about the disparities—how certain faces always rise and certain others always plateau—you get the corporate sermon about “opportunities for development” or “taking initiative,” as if the issue is your work ethic and not the rigged ladder. Meanwhile the pay here is an insult with direct deposit. They tell us morale matters, they tell us culture is important, and they host a lunch once a year to prove it. But when people burn out, get vocal, or simply ask for livable raises, suddenly the budget evaporates. Funny how it returns every time a favorite gets bumped up a level.
The worst part is they know morale is low. They’ve known. They’ve done surveys, held town halls, launched committees, ordered branded mugs and stress ba--s. The answer is not a mystery. People are tired of being underpaid, undervalued, and watched like suspects while the chosen few glide. And don’t come at me with the classic “If you don’t like it, leave.” Leave to where? They are all hiring at the same salary and running the same playbook? The whole ecosystem is built on keeping people grateful for scraps while pretending the problem is our attitude. We shouldn’t have to contort ourselves into silence or gratitude to survive a job. We shouldn’t be expected to normalize racism dressed up as “professional readiness” or favoritism dressed up as “high potential.” We shouldn’t be made to feel disposable while being told culture is everything.
Morale doesn’t matter here!!!! People matter here only when they’re useful and only when they look like the archetype leadership already decided on. And I’m tired of the lie that this is just how corporate life works. It doesn’t have to be. They just choose it.

I work here and I have been watching the same issues cycle over and over again.
morale keeps dropping people keep leaving and leadership keeps acting suprised!!!
so here is some advice from the floor take it or ignore it...

Nothing else matters if frontline managers are bad, you can roll out new programs every quarter and none of it sticks.\

Train managers how to lead people not just how to chase numbers.
Standardize expectations what does good leadership actually look like here how do you evalute people how do promotions work!?

If a manager has constant complaints about favoritism or micromanaging stop protecting them..

Retrain them or move them out!!!

Judge managers on retention engagement and team health not just output...

a lot of frustration comes from not knowing what job we are actually doing day to day.
Define roles clearly what is in scope what is not especially for territory and service roles.
Pay and bonuses need to match the real workload including on call time...

Stop combining two or three jobs into one role without premium pay, that is not efficiency that is explotation!?

Sales and service being mashed together is burning people out fast!!!

career growth right now feels like something people whisper about in meetings.
Publish clear promotion criteria by role and time in seat.
Ki-l relationship based advancement everyone sees it even if leadership pretends they dont...

Address age bias instead of pretending it does not exist.
If you push development programs tie them to actual promotions training that goes nowhere is just busywork..

Corporate training does not match field reality fix that.
Policies should apply the same everywhere unless there is a legal reason they cant.
Working hour rules should be simple clear and enforced not flexible only when it helps the company...

HR should be accesible to frontline employees not just managers!!!

If someone is on call pay them fairly or reduce expectations.
Remote work should be allowed where the job allows it if the work gets done stop micromanaging.
Targets need to reflect actual staffing levels not imaginary ones...

Not everything is an emergency the constant fire drill culture is exhausting!!!

has anyone noticed that new hires are suddenly 'buddy-buddy'' with managers and hr and they were just hired less than a month ago? is anyone else noticing this in their store?

MST home dispatch tech use and abuse company assets. They drive 100K-200K bucket trucks to their home and back to their home garage everyday. Big V8 6.3 L engines use a lot of gas and insurance on top. Also, with MST high pay and only have .5 job per tech a day per tech how is that saving company money and liability.
There are rules to follow when joining home dispatch program. Following the rules helps save gas and time and wear and tear on a vehicle used to drive to work and to home. But MSTs abuse this program from driving to the garage every day and dispatching at the garage. Making a stop at the grocery store to grocery shop in the company vehicle before driving home. Not closing your last job at the job site and instead, drive home and being still dispatched on your work ticket and then closing the job when you arrive home. I follow the rules, and I do not want the home dispatch program to go away because of MSTs taking advantage of the abuse. Also, MST managers are favoring many MSTs and letting the home dispatch MSTs do what ever they want. STOP ABUSING THE HOME DISPATCH PROGRAM YOU MSTs. You know who you are...

When will software engineering managers especially in multi-family finally be let go? Fannie can survive without them, and may even thrive. Too many managers lack technical expertise and real credibility. It’s hard to understand how they were hired in the first place? Instead of leading, they create toxic work environments, master office politics and bureaucracy to confuse hardworking engineers, and show blatant favoritism toward their loyalists. Their contributions rarely go beyond empty buzzwords. They constantly talk about AI, yet demonstrate little real to no understanding of it.
Why does Fannie need these hypocrites?

Capital Management Employees are vastly overpaid $$$ compared to almost every other division in the company+

out of the 35+ people, almost all are EVPs, SVPs, or VPs+Raking in $250K-$400K per year or much more+All the extra employee comp & bonus money is being funneled over to Capital Management+They get quarterly bonuses unlike other employees in the company+That is not fair+Their jobs are easy with them relying on AI computer stock picks as they mimic those recommendations along with the analysts+It's time to rein in this area+Company could save $10M w/o Capital Management+Company would make more $$$ by having better performing outside funds with lower expense ratios but tacking on additional fees to drive revenue++too much bloat w/ Capital Management++Hardly anyone is investing in their institutional funds outside of retirement plans & they have spent a ton to get on various platforms+Assets are down over $1B YOY which is 7% of portfolio+Meanwhile, there are no layoffs & employees of that division keep getting new titles and big big salaries and raises.

this year, the vast majority of the funds are near the bottom of their peer rankings & only three funds are in the top 50%. So, 3 funds out of 28--off to a very rocky start in 2026--looks like it will be a down yr+time to cut salaries, perks, & jobs in that division+lots of favoritism going on there--------

Lipper awards were excellent but company couldn't find a way to get news out & more plans & money keeps leaving. WTF is going on ?

$$$$$
Morningstar
Total Return Rank in Category
YTD (1 is best & 100 is worst)
MoA Core Bond Fund 98
MoA Clear Passage 2020 97
MoA Retirement Income 94
MoA Clear Passage 2045 92
MoA Clear Passage 2050 92
MoA Small Cap Growth Fund 92
MoA Clear Passage 2055 91
MoA Clear Passage 2060 91
MoA Clear Passage 2035 91
MoA Clear Passage 2025 89
MoA Clear Passage 2040 86
MoA Clear Passage 2065 85
MoA International 84
MoA Clear Passage 2030 83
MoA Mid Cap Growth Fund 81
MoA Conservative Allocatio.. 76
MoA Small Cap Equity Indx 76
MoA Clear Passage 2070 71

CVS culture is extremely toxic. I left my job last month! There is nothing but corruption, favoritism and cover ups. I love how some employees can end up on performance plans and then moved to different roles to protect their friends, but others if they’re not friends with the manager are scrutinized and micromanaged! If you’re still working at CVS I pray you find something new very soon.

Finally get rid of leadership that practices favoritism, over buys when we don't have the sales (expects tms in prep rooms to salvage the rotten product) , they believe their far superior to everyone else on the planet.

People getting title promotions after being here 6 months. Many others that are dedicated people that have been here for decades and never getting a title promotion. Favorites and cronies get these promotions.

Is this really happening? Not that I don't think this leadership is capable of it, I just never witnessed it myself.

My direct manager got promoted with zero training and no real leadership skills. I was micromanaged on minor tasks, while big project decisions went unchecked. Communication always felt passive-aggressive, and any mistake I made got used against me in performance reviews. Favoritism ran rampant. People who constantly flattered the manager got all the praise, while those actually performing well were ignored. And he's now in an even higher position. Make it make sense.

No more hiding and evading RTO. The policy is the policy for one and all. Firstnet or Fiber, 5G or Gwiz, time to move has come and gone as all will be on Friday 1/16. The exceptions and favoritism end in Cohen and Leggs orgs so bye bye teachers pets who join the breadlines like the rest of us. The smug untouchables now lose their favored nation status and will get a reduced severance down to four months. A few have already been given a heads up. Other’s will get notified next week before the official notice comes. Sad but central plains and midwest are not hubs and people have had years to move and they did t. Not fair and now pet status ends.

Why are some employees consistently protected, no matter what they do?

How does an executive assistant become a learning advisor in GOA?

In Tampa or NY it feels like entire teams are dominated by one group, and Indian managers/directors mainly hire and promote people from their own circle. It creates a closed-door environment where others don’t feel they have a fair chance. It’s frustrating and sometimes feels like the American dream is slipping away because opportunities aren’t even accessible to fellow Americans. This is the greatest exploitation in American history.

It feels like some groups and communities tend to form close circles and mainly support people from their own background, and this sometimes extends into workplace dynamics as well. When this happens, it creates an impression of favoritism and makes the environment feel less neutral or inclusiveness. Even from projects to consultants to promoting some one to a director. The biggest exploitation of our dreams.

I’ve accepted that I may never get my old role back — that’s part of how corporate reorganizations work. But what hurts isn’t losing the job. It’s how it happened.

I was RIF’d despite strong performance and ongoing contributions, while some “eliminated” roles were quietly backfilled almost immediately. Even my own position, is now being filled again. Saving the favourites. That doesn’t feel like a business decision — it feels like a leadership decision.

When merit isn’t the driver, trust breaks. Employees begin to wonder if favoritism or toxic leadership played a bigger role in who stayed and who went. In a company this large, that’s dangerous. Without accountability at the SD level and above, a culture like this can take root at the market level and eventually hurt the entire organization.

This isn’t about wanting my job back — it’s about acknowledging a pattern that shouldn’t be ignored. Unfair layoffs don’t just impact people; they erode the foundation of the company itself.

I am typically not a fans of unions, but I think it’s pretty hilarious if the North Slope field staff unionizes in response to the continued incompetence and favoritism displayed by company leadership.

How is the "new & improved" rating process going for my fellow managers? Nothing like robbing Peter to pay Paul. How is this not a process filled with managers playing favorites? It is the most subjective process ever, and the end result will be a demotivated team after finding out their coworkers got a portion of their raise.

Worst. ever. Management. Operations.

Harassment, favoritism, nepotism.

Tax management is ruthless. The income tax group used to be where a new hire can enter into the company and advance. Then they migrated work to BA. Then they brought over people from BA for jobs limiting opportunities for US employees. Those brought in from BA then become managers and protected their own in rankings. All the new hires brought in have quit or been PIPd.

Think about that. This BA Management klan ran off all their new hires. They are either terrible at identifying talent, terrible at developing people, or clearly bias in their assessment as the only people that remain are their friends.

It’s happening all over. Look at the announcements and the amount of jobs coming to the US. They aren’t developing US employees, they are developing GBC as a priority and will follow the same pattern of protecting their own. The manager that brought over the person from GBC won’t admit their mistake so they are protected and become managers eventually. They need to show GBC that opportunities really exist to get out of India or Argentina or Brazil.

If you are US employee you are at a huge disadvantage. This company doesn’t want you and doesn’t care about you. When you’re working late covering your incompetent management, remember that. Log off and go enjoy your life. Don’t worry about getting a low ranking for choosing not to work late, you were going to get a low ranking anyways. And if you weren’t, the salary increment isn’t worth it and the future career opportunities aren’t there.

Based on my experiences in Australia, bonuses are not merit based but essentially based on how well you get along with your boss. They can make all your hard work and outcomes achieved throughout the year meaningless. They dictate your year end review and also what salary increase and bonus to put forward for you.

I think they also play favourites as in a way they have a certain budget to work with for the team. Give more to brown nosers and less to associates they don’t like.

Lesson - at a company like this, it’s not about producing grade A product and being a grade A colleague. It’s about kissing A.

After many years at Verizon, this layoff opened my eyes to some hard truths. Many of us worked weekends, late nights, and emergencies to make the network successful — but it took the company only minutes to cut us off. In certain regions, decisions were extremely unfair. Poor performers were kept because of friendships, while high performers were let go simply because we focused on the network more than politics.

I’m disappointed in how favoritism outweighed merit. But I’m also grateful for the experience — and very excited for the next chapter. Verizon underpays, and now I know my true market value. Sometimes a closed door really is a blessing.

Though Verizon was one of the dream company to work for but like many of us I thought the same, worked there for more than 14 years and gave it all. Weekend work and a tons of after hours work to make our customers happy. The company literally took 2 minutes to make me a stranger. On the good side Verizon Underpays you and I realized it more when this VZ bubble broke, I realized how much I am worth of.
In some places very poor decisions were made where poor performers were kept since they were friends with the bosses and good performers were let go just because thier focus to make the best network and $u-k up to the boss or bosses boss.
In the end Im grateful to what I got but excited for the new chapter since it will pay much more than this $hitty company was paying
Request to higher ups to please review certain regions and ask why poor performers were kept when they had multiple HR complaints against them and failed in thier previous roles, friendships/ favouritism?

I’ve been here long enough to see how everything revolves around the same tight circles. If you’re not in their little social crew, you’re stuck watching others get pushed ahead. It makes the whole place feel small and predictable. I’ve stopped expecting anything fair from the system.

It’s painful to watch how SAP continues to generate massive profits from the North American region, yet when layoffs happen, NA employees are the first ones targeted. The organization expects returns from NA but doesn’t reinvest in the region by protecting jobs or creating opportunities. Instead, the only real job security seems to exist in Europe and lower-cost countries, purely because of cost advantages.

This double standard feels like hypocrisy. Many high-performing employees across the US and Canada have been intentionally targeted. Several German managers have knowingly set NA employees up for failure, only to replace them later with far less experienced individuals in Europe people who often lack the maturity or capability to handle the complexity of the roles they’ve inherited.
What’s even more disheartening is the lack of empathy displayed by certain HR manager (who shouldn't be managers) in Europe. Many of leader's got downgraded their role to 2-3 times lower but still talk as if they own SAP. Don't have little to no shame to resign and leave the company. They deliver polished speeches during town halls about ‘family’ and ‘support,’ but the moment real, difficult questions are asked, they become defensive, vindictive, and punitive. Employees who speak up are often singled out and slowly pushed out through a toxic environment.

There is a clear pattern of favoritism, retaliation, and deeply unethical behavior happening across the HR space. These actions are not only damaging careers they are eroding trust, culture, and the very integrity the company claims to stand for.

How is it even legal. I don’t care about race or anything. But somehow these people have not gotten the message. Favoritism being paid to their own kind??? How is that even legal????

In the email about lp they also talked about this new director role. Is ej finally gonna stop pretending gp is about anything other than how much you kiss up? Some of the partner jobs are less scope than some of the dl's so guess if you have a big job but you aren't on the favorite kiss up list you get to be a "executive level" director now? nowhere near the money but all the work while they hire a gp over you who you have to tell how to do his job.6 years this place keeps going down

3M has been one of the biggest examples of nepotism and favoritism in terms of career growth i have ever seen. How many cases are there of a vp’s nephew getting regular promotions or an execs son or family member becoming a vp? Too many to count!