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AI Layoff Strategy Draws Expert Criticism

The author criticizes tech CEOs for mass layoff decisions. He argues against replacing employees with artificial intelligence. The article highlights flaws in current leadership strategies. Many leaders are misguidedly following this layoff trend. The author urges a reevaluation of these workforce reduction tactics.

https://www.inc.com/joe-procopio/the-flaws-in-mass-layoffs-for-ai-productivity-are-beyond-obvious-now/91351132


NCFO General Chairman Useless

Doesn’t seem like the leadership is doing a very good job or even cares about their members. Hearing a local chairman, got taken out by management at the same location of the previous local chairman was taken out at. Seems like targeting… Not to mention, it was next to nothing as far as involvement with the last contract between members and union officials.
Aren’t they supposed to represent the members or is being in bed with management too comfy?


ESC town hall

The town hall felt like the usual, with a few stand out moments. Plants legitimately asked how to get a req approved and filled faster and basically got an answer that EVP reviews weekly but other than that, we just don’t know! Also, having EVP say he’s not a process guy is frustrating- isn’t poor and cumbersome processes (tickets and self-serve apps that get you nowhere) a big part of the problem? That is probably the reason so much time is spent on calls and meetings and meaningless metrics. Joking about being EVP for a quarter means he outlasted the last guy was actually funny, but if exec levels turnover that fast, why wouldn’t employees? Don’t they quit bad managers before they quit bad companies? I guess we just need to be on site and that will fix things


A Long-Career Perspective on Navigating Fidelity Through Change

After 36 years at Fidelity, I have learned that every generation of associates eventually faces a moment when the conversation gets heavy.

People start asking whether the company is changing too much. Whether the culture is still the same. Whether the future is secure. Whether leadership understands the pressure people are feeling. Whether the next reorganization, strategy shift, technology wave, or market cycle means something worse is coming.

I understand those concerns. I have lived through enough change to know that uncertainty is real. It affects people, families, teams, confidence, and morale. I would never dismiss that.

But I would also offer this perspective: catastrophizing has never helped anyone build a better career.

Fidelity has never been a static company. It has grown, reorganized, adapted, expanded, corrected, invested, simplified, and reinvented itself many times. That is not a sign of failure. That is one of the reasons Fidelity has endured.

A long career teaches you that companies, like people, go through seasons. There are seasons of growth, seasons of constraint, seasons of reinvention, seasons of discomfort, and seasons when the path forward is not as clear as we would like it to be. The mistake is assuming that a difficult season is the whole story.

It is not.

Fidelity remains a company with tremendous strengths: deep customer trust, a respected brand, scale, financial discipline, a broad business model, talented associates, and a history of finding its way through change. That does not mean every decision will feel perfect. It does not mean every associate will experience change the same way. But it does mean that this is still a place where people can learn, contribute, grow, lead, and build meaningful careers.

To those early in your career: do not let fear become your career strategy. Listen, learn, and be aware of what is happening around you, but do not let anonymous anxiety define your view of the company or your future. Build skills. Build relationships. Ask for feedback. Understand the business. Volunteer for hard problems. Become known as someone who is reliable, curious, adaptable, and focused on outcomes.

A career is not built by waiting for certainty. It is built by becoming valuable in uncertain environments.

To those who have been here a long time: our experience matters, but only if we keep converting it into relevance. We have seen cycles before. We know that the mood of the moment is not always the truth of the future. Our role is not to deny that change is hard. Our role is to help others navigate it with perspective, steadiness, and maturity.

Long-tenured associates have a responsibility to be culture carriers, not nostalgia carriers. We should remember what made Fidelity special, but we should also help shape what Fidelity needs to become next.

That means mentoring newer associates. Sharing context. Reducing noise. Solving problems. Staying open to new tools, new ways of working, and new business realities. It means being honest without being cynical, realistic without being fatalistic, and loyal without being blind.

There is a difference between concern and catastrophizing.

Concern asks: What can I learn? How can I prepare? Where can I contribute? Who needs my help? What skills do I need next?

Catastrophizing says: It is all broken. Nothing matters. The future is already lost.

I do not believe that. Not after 36 years.

What I believe is that careers are built through adaptation. Reputation is built through consistency. Leadership is built through how we show up when things are unclear. And culture is built by the daily choices we make in how we treat each other, how we talk about the future, and whether we choose to contribute or simply complain.

Fidelity is not perfect. No company is. But it is still a place with opportunity for people who are willing to grow, stay curious, build trust, and focus on meaningful work.

The best advice I can offer is this: do not outsource your outlook to the most anxious voice in the room.

Pay attention. Be thoughtful. Prepare yourself. Keep learning. Take care of your network. Take care of your reputation. Take care of your teammates. And remember that your career is bigger than any one rumor, reorganization, difficult quarter, or online thread.

I have seen Fidelity change many times.

I have also seen people build remarkable careers here because they chose resilience over fear, contribution over cynicism, and growth over retreat.

That opportunity still exists.

The question for each of us is how we choose to show up now.


Wimbledon Tickets?

Here's an update from the UK Telegraph. It's behind a paywall, so I've copied it here. Seems AM was also questioning the hospitality spend, with particular reference to highly expensive Wimbledon tickets. I recall seeing photos of BL and his partner at the tournament in July 2023. Nice to know who was really paying for them.

Ousted BP chairman hits back over ‘excessive’ spending
Dismissed chairman suggests his ‘determination to drive change’ is behind misconduct allegations

Albert Manifold said his cost-cutting measures, such as foregoing limousines and private jets, may have ‘ruffled feathers’

Christopher Jasper

The ousted chairman of BP has attacked a culture of “excessive” spending at the oil giant, including purchasing tickets for sports events such as Wimbledon.

Albert Manifold suggested he had been forced out of BP after raising concerns over “unnecessary expenditure”.

Mr Manifold was dismissed without warning on Tuesday, with people close to the BP board suggesting he had been shown the door because of a “volcanic” temper, “bullying” and “verbal abuse”.

However, in a 769-word statement published on Thursday, Mr Manifold said he had been the victim of “lies” from people hiding behind “anonymity”.

He said that during a 40-year career he had “never once had accusations made against me such as those made in recent days”.

During his eight-month tenure at BP, Mr Manifold is understood to have proposed a crackdown on unnecessary spending, such as some corporate events.

Events attended by board members at the expense of the company are said to have included Wimbledon.

A source close to Mr Manifold said: “He feels that that is one of the reasons the board turned on him. Some members didn’t share his commitment to cost-cutting and budgeting.”

Ousted BP chairman hits back over ‘excessive’ spending
Dismissed chairman suggests his ‘determination to drive change’ is behind misconduct allegations

Albert Manifold said his cost-cutting measures, such as foregoing limousines and private jets, may have ‘ruffled feathers’

Christopher Jasper
Transport industry editor
28 May 2026 4:21pm BST

The ousted chairman of BP has attacked a culture of “excessive” spending at the oil giant, including purchasing tickets for sports events such as Wimbledon.

Albert Manifold suggested he had been forced out of BP after raising concerns over “unnecessary expenditure”.

Mr Manifold was dismissed without warning on Tuesday, with people close to the BP board suggesting he had been shown the door because of a “volcanic” temper, “bullying” and “verbal abuse”.

However, in a 769-word statement published on Thursday, Mr Manifold said he had been the victim of “lies” from people hiding behind “anonymity”.

He said that during a 40-year career he had “never once had accusations made against me such as those made in recent days”.

During his eight-month tenure at BP, Mr Manifold is understood to have proposed a crackdown on unnecessary spending, such as some corporate events.

Events attended by board members at the expense of the company are said to have included Wimbledon.

A source close to Mr Manifold said: “He feels that that is one of the reasons the board turned on him. Some members didn’t share his commitment to cost-cutting and budgeting.”

In response, a source close to BP suggested it would not have been unusual for the firm to take up tickets to entertain business clients at events such as Wimbledon.

BP also has a history of hosting politicians – many of whom have backed the oil industry – at the tournament, and was revealed in 2023 to have donated tickets worth more than £4,200 to two MPs and a government minister.

Before his removal, Mr Manifold reportedly clashed with BP’s company secretary and board member Ben Mathews over costs.

Mr Mathews, whose role is to advise the board on corporate governance, was a key architect in the push to oust Mr Manifold, according to the Financial Times. He has since been put on medical leave because of stress after having dealt with the departures of Mr Manifold and his predecessor Helge Lund in quick succession.

BP did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding spending by directors.

In his statement, Mr Manifold said he was dismissed after he had “sought to streamline and refresh the board and started to advocate for a review of the workings of the board to improve efficiency”.

Called out excessive expenditure
Mr Manifold said he had wanted to “set an example” at BP and detailed how he demonstrated this by making his own coffee, buying his own lunch and resisting the use of private jets.

He added: “Where I saw unnecessary or excessive expenditure, I called it out. I had no interest in having a dedicated chauffeur-driven limousine at my beck and call on the occasions that I was in London.

“I, like most people, walked, took taxis, trains, etc. I had no interest in taking private aviation nor in availing myself of corporate tickets for sports events. I made my own coffee and bought my lunch in the local café. I sat in a small office, eschewing the grand corner-office privilege of previous chairmen.”

However, he said, those priorities “were not always shared by everyone”.

He added: “In business, small signals matter in driving change and contribute to ensuring no company has a culture of entitlement.

“All of this was my attempt to ensure the continuing independence and transparency of the board and the ongoing improvement in oversight and governance.”

Mr Manifold praised BP’s chief executive Meg O’Neill, its chief financial officer Kate Thomson and the wider executive team as being “among the finest people I have worked with”, saying they were “brimming with integrity”.


Results Matter. Badge Swipes Don’t.

Kevin O’Leary said recently he doesn’t care if someone works “from their basement” as long as they can execute and deliver results. That’s the part “leadership” still doesn’t seem to understand.

https://fortune.com/2026/03/10/shark-tank-kevin-oleary-ai-tech-gen-z-rto-office-cubicles-corporate-america/

We already proved remote work works. The job gets done. In a lot of cases productivity improved, turnover dropped, and companies saved money. Even Stanford research still shows hybrid schedules had zero negative effect on productivity while reducing turnover.

Instead, we are doubling down on badge swipes, presence reports, and forcing people back into traffic for work that still happens on laptops and Teams calls all day.

People aren’t frustrated because they “don’t want to work.”

They’re frustrated because leadership saw proof that flexibility worked… and ignored it anyway. They chose max pain and misery over common sense and happy employees.


Keeping things simple is typical corporate double talk

If Nike was doing things right then 18 months under EH should have come out with next generation of new designs and new strategy as to how to attack and new story line. Cricket~?

Instead from EH all we hear same old recycled corporate restructure narrative, at this time frankly it is getting old.

I was at UA when sh-t was going down and they played the same movie so I have seen it before. Promises and promises until the CEO cannot lie no more and next CEO comes in until he cannot BS no more on and on until the company is done.

@cx+1kr2mtsk2 said it well.


There have been an alarming number of senior leaders leaving

Getting out since their stock options aren't worth sh-t, I guess? I'm sure they will be replaced by external hires with no industry experience who live nowhere near a Medtronic facility!
You'd think the board would wake up to what a problem Geoff is. The stock is in the 70s!


The lack of quality people leaders is to be expected

You have to understand that leadership rolls at Verizon are often essentially glorified IC positions. It’s a remnant of all the mergers and acquisitions that formed Verizon. There is not enough pay growth in actual IC positions here. There are not enough band 5 level IC positions. So IC’s take manager rolls simply because there are more of them. Then they get those rolls because of their performance or relationship’s established while being a decent IC. So the lack of quality people leaders is to be expected. The reality is you could collapse Senior Manager, Associate Director into one roll across the company and not miss a beat. I suspect you could even collapse Director into that single roll with little impact depending on the business unit.

Bumped from @aq+1kr3jr1wf.


Barrons: Has Nike Lost It's Superpowers

Nike's turnaround effort has not been a quick pivot, to borrow a basketball term. It has been more like a wobbly slide on a dusty gym floor. The stock price peaked at over $170 in late 2021. It was down to $79 in October 2024, when company lifer Elliott Hill returned from retirement to take over and set things right. Now it is $46, a price investors could have paid nearly a dozen years ago.

There are two more problems. First, although shares are cheaper than they were, they are not trading at a deep and obvious discount, at 24 times projected earnings for the company's fiscal year ending May 2027. A bounceback in earnings would help, but estimates for the years ahead have been slipping.

Second, Hill is already doing the things investors are demanding: refocusing the company on performance shoes after years of shuffling along on casual designs, and repairing relationships with stores after an arrogant move online. There are pockets of success, like a modest rebound in North American sales in the latest quarter. But it has not been enough.

It is a tempting buy when one of history's great growth stocks has fallen so much. A 3.6% dividend is a sweetener. But investors should first consider the possibility that Nike's problems run deeper than they appear.

A plunge in demand from China is clearly a key concern, but there are also questions over whether Nike has lost its marketing edge, amid what might be a shift in the phenomenon that brought it to dominance to begin with: basketball stardom. It may be wise to wait for more progress before buying shares.

## Shoe Drop

An investor who held Nike from the start would have no regrets. Shares sold for 18 cents apiece, split-adjusted, at the initial public offering in 1980. But the price had dropped to 12 cents by Oct. 26, 1984. That was the day Nike gambled a then-unheard-of $2.5 million on a five-year shoe deal with a college basketball star who had not yet played a day in the pros: Michael Jordan. The pact was so transformative that Ben Affleck made a 2023 movie about the executive who landed it, called Air, starring Matt Damon.

It was not just that Jordan won six championships with the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s, or thrilled fans with soaring dunks. The 1990s were the twilight of monoculture, when consumers watched the same television shows and read the same magazines, before the internet splintered audiences.

The 1992 Olympic "Dream Team" showed Jordan off to an adoring world. In marketing, there is a proprietary measure of celebrity reach and popularity called the Q Score. Anything over 20 is excellent, and 40 is a rare pop miracle. In the 1990s, Pope John Paul II, a celebrity pontiff if ever there was one, is said to have scored in the low-to-mid 40s. Jordan hit 56. Everyone knew him, and everyone liked him. He made Nike the place to be for top athletes.

In Nike's fiscal year ended May 2025, its Jordan brand did $7.3 billion in sales, or 15% of the company's total. But that dollar figure was down a painful 16% from the year before.

For years, the brand generated hype through limited releases and instant sellouts of retro shoes, which "sneakerheads" traded on secondary markets. During the pandemic, Nike flooded the market, creating an easy boost for sales and profits, but also suffocating its hard-won hype.

Two disastrous things happened around the same time. Nike's Consumer Direct Acceleration strategy under previous CEO John Donahoe involved cutting ties with middling shoe retailers and reducing allocations to longtime partner Foot Locker, while pitching more shoes online for a higher cut of profits. Meanwhile, consumer preference abruptly shifted away from bulky basketball silhouettes toward running aesthetics, especially dad shoes and tech wear. New Balance, Hoka, and On surged, and stores that had been spurned by Nike were happy to give them shelf space.

## The Skeptic

If there is a measure beyond Nike's stock price that captures its slump, it might be operating margin, which averaged around 13% over the decade through May 2024, and is projected to dip below 6% for the year through May 2026.

Part of the decline is necessary medicine. CEO Hill has pulled back on Jordan retro models, along with an oversaturated basketball low-top turned lifestyle shoe called Dunks. He is also making amends with retailers, which has involved accepting humbler economics. The bull case on Nike - less than half of Wall Street analysts say to buy the stock today, versus more than three-quarters at its 2021 peak - is that margins will revert to normal once Nike regains its footing.

Jay Sole at UBS is not so sure. For one thing, double-digit margins for sneaker giants are unusual. Adidas (ADS) had an 8% margin last year, and it led Puma (PUM) and Under Armour (UA). Also, it is unclear how much Nike needs to shrink to grow. Sportswear, including apparel, has recently been half of sales, Sole reckons, even though the company once said it should never be more than 30%. This risks spending down brand equity that was built with performance shoes, and cultivating a customer base of trend chasers, not brand loyalists.

Stepping back, Sole wonders whether Nike has lost what he calls its superpower: the ability to be all things to all people. "Most brands have some sort of limitation," he says. "They are footwear only or they are apparel only, or they are one country only, or they are one sport only, because that is sort of what they are known as. And it is hard to be more than that."

Lululemon Athletica (LULU, +2.90%), for example, attracts primarily women, and Under Armour attracts primarily men. In past UBS surveys that asked respondents which brands are for them, most topped out at 60%, but Nike hit 95%. It sells to men, women, young, old, suburban, urban, and participants in just about every sport, or no sports.


Strong Reviews, Solid Delivery… Then You’re Suddenly ‘Not a Fit'

BNY’s “transformation” machine keeps producing the same outcome: people doing real work get tossed aside, then retroactively labeled as “not a fit” to justify decisions already made in a conference room weeks earlier. The script never changes — strong reviews, solid delivery, then suddenly you’re recast or discarded as the inflexible obstacle to whatever new operating model changes leadership is worshipping this quarter.

And the part about “other opportunities”? Classic BNY fiction. They don’t offer options; they don’t offer severance… only a storyline to protect the org chart. Meanwhile, the people who kept the place running are left trying to rebuild careers while BNY congratulates itself for “modernization.”

Your experience isn’t an outlier — it’s the business model. Employees give decades; leadership gives euphemisms. And the saddest part is how many careers are derailed or forced to end earlier than planned… not with recognition, but with a carefully crafted narrative that erases the truth and replaces it with some delusion of BNY's visionary leadership and innovation.


The guy wants us all GONE

Per Charlie, will you all get the F out of here here please?!?!?!?! Just leave already!!!!

Should be posted daily so we don't ever forget the qualities of our Dear Leader.

Especially all those bootlickers and the standing ovations and softball questions at the Town Halls.

WF CEO CELEBRATES 23 CONSECUTIVE QUARTERS OF HEADCOUNT REDUCTIONS
https://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2026/04/14/wells-fargo-ceo-layoffs-wfc-earnings-call.html


Tone Deaf

It’s amazing to me how dismissive the ELT has been with our RTO mandate. We know from other companies that this initiative is often a huge failure and unfair burden on employees. Women are almost always impacted more than their male counterparts. My experience in HR has been one of the worst I’ve seen in my career. The communications are incredibly poor and borderline disrespectful. Since the initial announcement, I have not seen Suzan answer a question directly, but rather punt the heat and responsibility to her leadership team. She’s also stopped doing Q&A altogether in meetings she’s led. We are less than a week away with almost no questions answered, and our human capital division meeting today was so poor that it actually raised more questions than answers. Rather than discussing direct concerns with Monday looming, we spent time celebrating an arrogant partner’s records from 25 years ago and discussing employee discounts. We still have no word on assigned floors or desks. We still have no solutions for parking. Unbelievable.


SD lives 2 hours or more away from office

i’m in finance. My SD lives well over two hours away from BR. He has multiple Asso. Directors on the team who also live over two hours away. he calls into meetings from his kids atheltic events.We’re required to go into these office but these fools are cheating Verizon by leaving early on in-office days (and showing up late. maybe work from 10-2 with a long lunch?), not working, shoving work down on lower employees, and other selfish acts that hurt the company. why would someone be hired who lives in a city over 2 hours away?

I get it for EVPs. but for a lowly SD? our SVP also lives 3 hours away from her home office. this is why Verizon’s performance has been suffering for YEARS and maybe DECADES


Dysfunction, Dysfunction, Dysfunction: Bring Back the Chevron of 2010

I have been with this company since 2009. I started when it was HES and watched it transition into HSE (because someone's favorite thought it sounded better). I have worked across multiple parts of the function, including remediation and operations. At the lower levels, the work was solid and the mission was clear. As I moved up over the last 15 plus years, the reality became impossible to ignore.

For years, I dismissed the posts on this site as noise from disgruntled employees or people upset after layoffs. I genuinely believed the dysfunction being described could not reflect the Chevron I knew. I was wrong, and I am disappointed in myself for not listening sooner.

What I have seen at the senior levels is staggering. A function led by people who have never worked in the field. Leaders who talk endlessly to sound informed but contribute nothing of substance. Leaders who take credit for the work of others and present it as their own. A culture where competence is optional but connections are everything.

And yes, the nepotism is real. If you are tied to the right executive by blood or marriage, you are untouchable. I have personally seen performance ratings overridden because someone was someone’s daughter. That is not leadership. That is not integrity. That is not the Chevron many of us committed our careers to.

Everything I once dismissed as exaggeration has turned out to be true.

After more than 15 years of service, I am planning my exit. I will stay until I secure my next role, but it is clear this is no longer the organization it once was and no longer the place for me.

It is time to go.


We truly don't hate this guy enough

Two weeks ago I laid off more than 20% of my workforce. I didn’t do it because Cloudflare is struggling. We posted record revenue growth, have strong free cash flow and are adding an unprecedented number of customers around the world. I did it because business is changing, and to win the future, Cloudflare needs to change with it.

Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince


We don't hate this guy enough

Two weeks ago I laid off more than 20% of my workforce. I didn’t do it because Cloudflare is struggling. We posted record revenue growth, have strong free cash flow and are adding an unprecedented number of customers around the world. I did it because business is changing, and to win the future, Cloudflare needs to change with it.

Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince


Is there a plan here or are we making this up as we go?

I have been at Open Text for a while, and I still can't tell if leadership has any kind of long term strategy or if we are all just responding to whatever crisis popped up most recently. My previous employer had plenty of problems, but at least they had a roadmap. Here, it feels like we are always reacting to something and never actually moving forward.


If we're failing, let's fail consistently

My gut feeling is they don't know what they are doing and are just trying another model that will also fail. There are so many groups to all running around "getting alignment" with each other that they fail to just get the work done. They could be driving right off a cliff and all they would worry about is if they are doing it consistently across teams with shared components.

@ac+1kr3jt5gv makes a great point.


PEP could learn from this guy

At Bolt, Breslow said, the HR team “was creating problems that didn’t exist,” as part of “a culture of not getting things done and complaining a lot.” “The problems disappeared when I let them go.”

https://nypost.com/2026/05/26/opinion/bye-bye-hr-lets-hope-bolt-financial-ceo-ryan-breslow-starts-a-trend/


We're turning into Sprint

The golden years are long gone. To compete with price slashing, we have to almost give away our product. This leaves less to work with. Though cost cutting has been a theme the past 5 years. But this past year has reached Sprint levels. Do more with less people and money but be happy about leadership's questionable decisions. It is scary the similarities of what Sprint went through before being destroyed and what we are seeing today within. A sad coincidence we added yellow to our colors. On top of all that weight from above, customers are getting worse. Not just with us but everywhere. The entitlement norm and lack of compassion or respect of fellow humans is a crazy strain on workers already looking over their shoulder.

@xx+1kqqf7e4m makes an excellent point.


Project Keystone - Accenture’s Blunder

How does Accenture have 350 people and unable to deliver Project Keystone? Why isnt anyone getting penalized for this sh*tshow? Who is the sponsor for Accenture?

Accenture is terrible and with GCC effort - i am sure they are selling their souls and su-king Jose’s and Kevin A’s lollipop


Objectively speaking, Michael Dell has been very successful.

1 By partnering closely with NVIDIA, Dell successfully secured a front-row seat on the AI wave.
2 By backing Donald Trump, Dell gained political support and substantial government orders.
3 By distancing the company from China and giving up part of the Chinese market, Dell earned strong trust from Trump and his allies.
4 Through quiet but decisive and continuous layoffs, Dell has consistently reduced costs.
5 By shifting operations toward India, Dell has maintained product competitiveness.