#worklifebalance

My three kids are all in high school right now, my oldest son and his two younger sisters, all just a year apart. He’s getting ready to pack up for college here soon, it’s hitting me hard. For the longest time, I thought I knew exactly how to guide him. I figured a solid field like software engineering or business was the way to go. But looking at what’s happening at my own job and this company, and seeing the entire office now Indian and all this AI tech... I'm not sure what to suggest. At the same time, I’m terrified of them just picking a lib arts major, drowning in student loans, and ending up without a job. We learned that lesson the hard way. My wife went to an Ivy League for a degree that took us years to pay off with no return(never do it). I love my kids more than anything. They have so much life in them. It breaks my heart to imagine them ending up in some WF type office, surrounded by the exhausted, lifeless faces I see every day, working for a evil CEO who doesn't care about them at all. I want them to be happy with their life.

Why does John Stankey's teams status right now show last seen yesterday? It does not show he is out of office or anything like that. Why is the CEO of a Fortune 50 company not working on a Friday that he is scheduled to work?

I had to do a 1 hour commute to the office and back in the middle of a busy workday so that my presence report shows that I was there. Why does the CEO get a free pass and I cannot? Is he playing at the Highland Park links today?

Survived this round. There will be more rounds.

Assuming that I have about 7 years of experience, late 30s, mid 200K total comp, wife is not working, have a toddler. No debt/mortgage (renting in So Bay). Working in sales.

Is there a rule of thumb for how much should someone like me have to have saved to hedge layoff risk?

VTP?? It's not to be.....
Cause AT&T is here to stay.....
All the way.....

A vegan diet may be in order.

https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/chuck-robbins-2270936687.jpg?resize=1200,865

Let's see how deep we go today

No other way to really explain it.

15 hour days and weekends. No breaks. Leadership does not care.

I have an offer thats paying 20k less and its in person. considering taking it for sanity. someone talk me out of it. all things considered, I can afford the salary hit with relatively little changes other than amount saved.

It has now been over a year since I left State Farm. I know people rant and rave on here about toxic environments, dysfunctional leaders, etc etc etc. But one thing I've discovered over the past 12 months is that the State Farm environment can truly damage a person's well being and self confidence. I was in leadership when at SF, not in Claims. When I started at my new company, in a senior leadership role, it became clear to me right away the stark difference in work environment and leadership health. State Farm subtly pushes you down, questions everything you do, and makes you feel that anything you do is just not good enough.

I didn't realize, even as a leader, just how oppressive and damaging that is to an individual. There is no loyalty, support, appreciation for the workforce from executive leadership. State Farm leadership will praise you one minute and then turn around and make you feel an inch high because something wasn't done according to their expectations.

Instead of complaining, make the decision to leave, if you can. The subtle mental harm that State Farm propagates is worse than you believe.

Has anyone got any clarity on this?
Like from FTS HR?

My contract states hybrid, but there's legal ease in there... I really can't go in full-time and would not have taken or applied for a full-time in-office role since it is not feasible for me. Worst case, I could ask my FTS and let folks on here know what I hear...

But FTS is most of the time beyond useless and just gives you a vagus runaround on things.

Don’t think this will last, you will have your good MOW’s and you think you will sit at home sending emails and watching TV. Sooner we will get the AI scheduling program that will not only assign you stores to hit every week,but you will be tracked with GPS again. So to the one’s that think it’s not so bad, will see how you fall in 6 month’s

Anyone know if memorial holiday Day week will be tracked?

I am going to keep this simple because I am tired of watching the same thing happen. I have seen people give this job every waking hour, burn themselves out completely, and then blame only themselves when they got let go. They never saw it coming because they believed hard work would be enough. It is not enough. The people who survive here are not the hardest workers. They are the best talkers, the best networkers, the best at being visible in the right moments and invisible in the wrong ones. If you are not one of those people, at least stop giving this place more than a fair day's work. It does not love you back. It will not remember your overtime. Save that energy for yourself.

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?