#performance

It’s convenient to blame engineers at every level, but management seems to operate in a different accountability universe—one where failure has no real consequences.
At the LL6, LL5 level and above, you see the same pattern of weak, indecisive leadership repeating the same mistakes quarter after quarter. There’s little ownership, no urgency to correct course, and no visible standard for performance. Yet the paychecks keep coming, funding comfortable lifestyles that appear completely detached from the results they deliver.
What’s worse is the revolving door. Ineffective managers get swapped out, only to be replaced by equally ineffective ones. Nothing improves because the system itself tolerates—and even rewards—mediocrity. It’s not just an individual failure; it’s structural.
At that point, calling it a product-driven organization feels dishonest. It looks far more like a closed circle protecting itself—an insular social club that talks strategy but consistently fails to execute anything of real substance.

If you sent a job to the Total Remuneration department to be graded and the job description included "data entry" the job would most certainly come back with a low non exempt pay grade. But that is what the refineries have engineers doing, data entry. When drawings and equipment databases need to be updated, the process if for the highest paid and highest skilled people to sit at a computer and do tedious data entry instead of handing this off to staff. This is just stupid. And to add insult to injury, there is no org wide initiative to entertain work process improvement opportunities. If we raise this as an opportunity, there is no mechanism to hear it or act upon it. This breeds mediocrity. Let the engineers do engineering work and project management, and hand off the lower level work to cheaper employees. What are we doing here? How about you go back in the wayback machine and read Tom Peters instead of worrying about the cost of coffee and copy paper.

Classic Drum "We know we have been doing badly in pre sales. Strange he kept on saying we are doing good. Finally admits losing customers to other clients, re org of the GIS Sales team.

Looks like his on his way out this his last chance. Dave K has been made the new Sales leader, eventually primed to take over Drums job.

With Mortal Kombat II hitting movie theaters and video game platforms this summer, employees here swear RV has been studying for a cameo. Not as a hero—those roles require budgets—but as the impeccably calm, soul-stealing iconic super-villain who whispers “Your soul is mine!” every time another “efficiency initiative” rolls out and heads must roll.

In this corporate remake, positive operating leverage is his finishing move.
Shareholders cheer as expenses drop, margins rise, and the stock price performs a “flawless victory. “

Meanwhile, employees brace for the monthly and quarterly “global realignments,” which arrive with the predictability of a franchise sequel.

Associates joke that RV has mastered a rare power: absorbing the power of others, all while maintaining the GLP1 expression of someone who already knows the next round’s outcome.

In this Mortal Kombat remake, no one throws a punch. DM's spreadsheets do all the fighting.

Our Q1 earnings call opened with its usual corporate shine: revenue up, efficiency up, and the stock price climbing like it had somewhere far better to be. But when the discussion turned to employee merit increases, the mood darkened faster than a server outage on payroll day.

Executives praised their “disciplined approach to compensation,” which employees on TheLayoff.com immediately translated as: “Your raise will be so small it can be expressed in decimal places.”

Associates reported merit bumps between 0.00% and 1.00%, the kind of increase that doesn’t meaningfully change anyone’s paycheck—or mood.

Meanwhile, the Executive Committee’s compensation disclosures told a very different story—one written in double digit percentages. As one commenter put it: “Our single digit raises must be the secret engine powering the double-digit growth in the stock price… and the even bigger growth in the CEO’s bonus.”

Consider RV’s 2025 total annual compensation of $83.5 million USD is roughly equivalent to the annual earnings of about 17,000 average workers in Pune, India. Interestingly, according to company sources, BNY India operations currently employ 7,000+ people across Pune and Chennai.

The CFO’s package drew similar reactions: “My raise couldn’t cover a tank of gas. His could fund all the lost tolls for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.”

Employees joked that BNY had perfected a new economic model: Shrink employee raises + Inflate margins = Celebrate the ‘efficiency gains’ with ginormous executive compensation packages.

By the end of the call, the stock was soaring, the executives were glowing, and associates were refreshing TheLayoff.com to see who got “realigned” next in the daily crusade for cost-efficient chaos.

A flawless quarter. KPI’s say one thing while non-digital human associates say something very differently.

My timing is not perfect here but I am curious - have they changed the bonus formula ??

Anyone?

Taking Million$ while delivering nothing. Best seller coming to a E- bookstore near you.

Why don't we include another brutal truth here?

Our costs are out of control and we are failing vs competition and our benchmark is BS.

Are we hearing the feedback from the broader organization?

Verizon is currently conducting time and motion studies:

1. The Core Concept
   A "Time and Motion" study is a method used to determine the "standard time" it should take to complete a specific task.

Time Study: Measuring how long a technician takes to complete an install or repair (e.g., "30 minutes for a router setup").

Motion Study: Analyzing the steps or movements involved to find the most efficient way to do the work with the least amount of wasted effort.

1. Modern Application: Verizon Connect
   In 2026, Verizon doesn't just use stopwatches; they use AI-driven software. Their "Time and Motion" data is captured through:

GPS & Telematics: Tracking "dwell time" (how long a van is parked at a customer’s house) to see if the work matches the scheduled duration.

Planned vs. Actual (PVA) Reporting: Comparing how long a job should have taken versus how long it actually took.

Breadcrumb Trails: Seeing the physical route and movements of a technician to eliminate "dead miles" or inefficient routing.

1. Why Verizon Uses It
   Verizon uses this data for three main reasons:

Labor Standards: Setting realistic quotas for technicians so they aren't overworked, but also aren't idle.

Customer ETAs: Providing you with a "the tech will be there between 1:00 and 3:00" window based on real-time data of how long previous jobs are taking that day.

Cost Reduction: Identifying where time is being wasted—such as a technician having to return to the warehouse because they didn't have a specific part (a "motion" error).

1. Technician Perspective
   If you are a Verizon employee, "Time and Motion" is often the metric used to evaluate your productivity. It measures your "wrench time" (actual work) versus your travel time and breaks. High-performing techs are those whose "actual" times consistently align with the "standard" times determined by these studies.

Another earnings beat. Feeling grateful his morning, go USB!! 👍

I have been with the company for around 15 years and have yet to receive any actionable feedback or coaching. I must be a rockstar right? My assessment results have varied wildly but I have never been below VG. I am not a hipo. It is extremely frustrating to receive feedback that cannot be actioned such as your role is limiting your assessment outcome and get a new role.

Don't ever forget it. You're more likely to get laid off if you're skilled, experienced, and outperform than if you're an average slacker who's just good at office politics. The better you are, the higher the chance you're deemed too expensive for a company that cares neither about the quality of its people nor the quality of what it delivers.

Long story short: Our location out performs Portland and especially remote Tempe employees by miles. Everyone knows this including leads and managers. They just don’t do anything about it because the environment simply put is “someone else will do it.” - very bad perspective, but it’s true. They don’t address the lazy people because at the end of the day the job will get done.

During our team meeting today the last remark was “accountability.” Which I thought GREAT! I have literally been bringing this up to management for MONTHS. However it took a turn when it was directed towards us…. The at/above performing location. Followed by the typical avoidant manager phrase of “you each need to hold yourself to high standards.”

Basically what I got out of it is “We know people aren’t carrying their weight. So that is why we are expecting all of you to carry it for them.” What in the clownery is this work environment?

For 2025, CEO Dr. Udit Batra received $14 million in total compensation, a 25% increase from the prior year. Last year was 11.14 million, which was 125x the median Waters employee salary.

https://www.panabee.com/news/waters-executive-compensation-2026

Since I know these posts get to you.

Gold almighty do something to get the stock up already. Earn your salary.

My portfolio didn't need another dead weight CEO

This guy doesn’t know jack fu--ing sh-t about AI. This Town Hall was the worst I’ve ever seen from this incompetent sack of sh-t.

Tell us to implement AI when we’re blocked by D-mb and D-mber Legg and Markus on any actual use case. Can’t wait to get laid off because Legg tripled the Azure bill to accomplish nothing but tell shareholders “AI”.

Thank god ask AT&T has a PDF to podcast generator though, that surely creates value.

Can someone briefly explain what is going on here, you see the stock going up and you've got X posting on LinkedIn. How Xerox and Lexmark are award finalist etc. Are they delusional or are we missing something or what?

I am the manager of three former ExxonMobil employees:

The first is desperate to please me and shows strong “boss-pleasing” behavior. It’s frustrating because I need him focused on productivity, not on feeding my ego. His results are what matter.

The second reacted strongly when I asked for help moving a table, saying it was a safety risk and refusing to do it.

The third seems to be living in the past. I hear “when I was at ExxonMobil…” at least five times a day.

I’ve started to notice a pattern. Former ExxonMobil employees often seem like they’ve gone through some kind of conditioning and struggle to behave normally in a different environment.

I don’t know what the company is doing to its employees, but it feels intense. They all come across as somewhat distressed, almost like they’ve developed an obsessive or overly rigid mindset.

I’m not sure what to do. They seem like capable employees, but their behavior is unusual, and I don’t want to fire them.

Any ideas on how to “reverse” the ExxonMobil effect?

P.S. They all say they left due to strategic changes, like departments being moved to other countries, not because of performance issues.

What are people hitting quota wise to go to club this year?

Stock is up 10% for the year but down a bunch after the 2025 reporting spike. If the market doesn't like Q1 I can't see how he's around by the end of the year.

No more RIF for next 8 months from Oracle but expect some performance based layoffs in mid-year. Here are the things you should note

1. Keep minimum 2 projects in your portfolio
2. Ensure you work with your customers. (don't rely on your lead or manager for inputs)
3. Maintain good relationship with your manager peers
4. Talk less. Don't share your stuff with anyone.

5. If project is not viable or repetitive, just move on

   AI is helpful for you to deliver things quickly but makes you d-mb in outside market. You get into a loop always without reason because AI does the reasoning for you.
   Use AI to remain competitive to deliver in project but don't rely on it for ever. Remember management will push AI usage to automate your work completely and stabilize it.
   Once project is stabilized you are out of game.

It's always about the bottom line and nothing else. That's exactly how they keep bleeding skilled, competent, and experienced people. It solves immediate problems and protects leadership bonuses, sure, but long term it's a disaster. If they put any real strategy into layoffs, they could cut costs and keep talent, but that would require effort. Too much work, I suppose.

Today my manager held a my 1:1 and told me he needs to me to start tracking my “activities” with how much time each takes. He claims upper leadership is wanting to get a better idea of the teams activities. We have about 8 people on our team.
Anyone else having this happen and what would you do if you did?
I’ll comply but I am trying to understand it because I get my work done in a timely manner, even with the additional items I have taken on and been asked to perform.

What the title says.73

Heard a rumor it is higher for some teams versus others this year? e.g. EMTECH?

Can only imagine the BOD/Vz C-Level circlej--kgoing on before Q1 reporting!

CFO has to be using AI to put lipstick on this Pig!

Once upon a time an employee
In management hogged his or her seat for almost decades.
In times like these , where the stock price is not moving and hovering around at a standstill, why is management still hogging their seats with over 3 years
. There should be a constant annual churn if you are not producing just like our top
Employees were let go in RIF. There has to be a specific management level RIF as well
.

I'm dreading the coming week. Losing the literal backbone of our team has made it impossible to keep up, and everyone around me is struggling too. Work was stressful before, now it's three times worse. And you know what happens if we don't perform? That becomes the excuse to cut us next. If results actually mattered, maybe they'd have thought harder about who they let walk.

I’ve been in R&D long enough to think I’d seen every organizational oddity, but lately I look at my reporting chain and just… sigh. I’m a Principal Engineer, the most technical person on my team, and yet there are seven layers of management between me and the top. Seven. At this point it feels like performance art.

And the part that blows my mind? We’re a software company. We really only need three groups to function: developers who ship code, sales/AEs who bring in revenue, and top leadership who set direction. Everything else should be supporting those three — not ballooning into a management ecosystem that needs its own food chain.

Would anyone that has been though it like to share what the PIP process is like? Im wondering if it might just be a blessing in disguise, because right now I get dozens of random, vague requests coming from all directions. And it’s always up to me to figure it out. If I do get chosen to be the “lucky one” to go on a PIP, does that mean I will be receiving clear, defined expectations? Will I have one focused agenda and that’s it? Is it confidential or can I openly tell my coworkers to leave me alone so I can focus on my PIP? Will my success, my ability to complete the goal be dependent on others cooperating, or will I be able to work independently on this so-called objective?
Will the supervisor somehow be allowed or prohibited from making the usual vague, random requests, changing the goalposts, and assigning work that depends on a bunch of other people who may or may not cooperate. Just curious how this really works and if anyone can shed some light or give some examples from their experience with PIPs.

Is it legal to suddenly change this RTO performance policy metrics and make people noncompliant? Previously, under 11 day RTO attendance, I was at 100% compliance. However, now that they changed their metrics calculation method, I am noncompliant. By them retroactively changing my compliant reports to noncompliant reports from Nov 2025 to March 2026, wouldn’t that be considered data manipulation by the company, which is illegal? They also failed to disclose IP usage to monitor which is also illegal.

https://www.thelayoff.com/t/1kjtpebnk

March it was $215

Now it is $179.49

Does anyone have any good experience with contractors at this company? I feel like in my 7 years here they have all been grossly incompetent. They interview well so I'm assuming they're cramming tech stack info before the interview (or are using AI to help answer questions).

Resumes are all over the place (and often more than one page and have seen 3+ pages more often than not), certifications for miles, but when it comes time to be a contributor to our workflow, they make some of the silliest mistakes or can't do more than a basic function. One contractor a few years back on our team was decent, but even they were not up to snuff. It's mostly been about a 90-95% negative experience in my tenure here. Otherwise I've run into some pretty bad issues like them not knowing about a tech stack item that we literally interviewed them for and asked them technical questions on.

So please, someone let me know I'm not crazy or tell me about a good one so I can imagine good quality contract work on my team.

We've hit the point where cutting your way to a higher stock price no longer works. The cracks are showing, reality is finally catching up.

From product I see, adidas is about to pull the ki-l shot and eliminate Nike from performance running.

Not to mention legit running brands with top innovation ASICS, Brooks, Saucony with Hoka, New Balance and ON taking casual running.

In the past 5 days FIS is down 5% and the Nasdaq is up 4.5%.

Leadership needs to get their act together.

Shouting, pressure, and creating a climate of fear in engineering won’t fix anything: in fact, it only makes things worse. Right now, people are acting out of fear instead of making rational decisions aligned with actual goals.

That’s how you end up with poor outcomes, short-term thinking, and teams that stop taking ownership.

If the goal is better performance, this approach is doing the opposite.

Manager put me on documented coaching out of the blue.
Last quarter review was good. This quarter was slow with no high-impact projects and zero vision from the Tech Lead.
No feedback on what I did wrong and no forward-looking plan. I’m not getting any actual coaching, just told to "do my work" and document.
Questions:

1. Is this just a paper trail to prep for an LR?
2. Should I just tell them I’m happy to leave if they want me out, or will I lose my severance/leverage?
3. Anyone actually survive this?