Lots of IT people cut in Columbus
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How can anyone blame Bill for this?
Remember - Bill didn't want to do this. We FORCED him to do this to us because we were such bad employees.
I’m glad someone mentioned Future of Work. That program predates several of our current leaders and was a widely accepted initiative across the organization. Many people dedicated time and resources to bringing this program to life and the fact is, COVID only expedited the work AEP had already been investing in.
Fast forward a few years, now we have leaders who are pushing a narrative that remote and hybrid work is a relic of the pandemic when those of us who have been around long enough, know the exact opposite to be true. Teams, departments and business units discussed and planned for Future of Work. BEFORE COVID. Everyone bought into Future of Work recognizing that our company was not successful because of 1RP or any other building. It was built through the connectivity and hard work of our teams, which has been significantly enhanced by the collaborative tools designed to make our work feasible from anywhere. We even used to discuss this program with those interviewing to join the company, as evidence of how innovative and forward-thinking AEP was.
Now, we are being told that remote work is detrimental to the company and I’m already starting to hear some sycophants in the org who were FULLY supportive of Future of Work, bend over backwards to give Bill the benefit of the doubt as it relates to his 5 days in office effort. It’s truly nauseating to watch this play out. It’s like Future of Work never existed. Bill and Phil deserve as much blame for what has happened to AEP as anyone else.
‘The Future of Work’ had been a thing for at least a decade prior to Covid, in which various disciplines were planning the very near future where most ‘knowledge workers’ or office workers would work from home all or some of the time. We would use web and cloud based collaborative tools. We would go into the office as needed or part time on a set schedule to collaborate in person. We would share ‘touch down’ and ‘hotel’ workspaces when in office. As a result: workers would be mobilized to be more resilient (remote/hybrid workers can more easily work when there is a level 2 snow emergency or they have a cold); organizations would consume less office space/energy for operating offices/roadways and fuel/emissions for commuting (there had been multiple orders for increasing telework in the federal government for years for these efficiency reasons especially). AEP had teams working on Future of Work prior to Covid. What changed? What changed during the pandemic and following years that made people say hybrid and remote should be rare or nonexistent? It was the future, now it’s the past we can’t go back to. That is one thing that is very odd to me. Most people impacted by this are at-will employees, AEP can change the terms of our employment when they want to and we can leave when we want to. I’m prepared to su-k it up and adapt and ‘just do my job’ until I find a better opportunity. But it does really put the nail in the coffin of my opinion (already on life support) of the company, its leadership, its culture. Because it is a reversal making past commitments a lie. I don’t know if all managers were as transparent with their teams, but I remember quite clearly in 2021 my manager (and my daily work is very closely tied to this, so maybe that’s why we were given this info) told us that individual departments were being permitted to decide how each position type would be classified moving forward; on-site, hybrid, remote. Moving forward. As in, this will be how we operate from now on. And I believe it was expressed that this would be permanent for the foreseeable future. The future of work was here. We signed telework agreements codifying these classifications. And now we are going backward.
Bill is not just playing the hand he has been dealt, he is actively making it worse.
Between his arbitrary "flattening the organization" plan that has engineering in complete disarray, with groups being shuffled around to the point that no one even knows what their responsibilities are anymore, to now this completely inscrutable RTO thing that no one can even figure out the purpose of, he's on track to be the worst CEO in some time. He talks a big game but what has he actually done other than introduce a ton of chaos and uncertainty into the organization?
I guess his big "win" is securing rate increases, so that the man on the street hates AEP even more and can only think of his $900 electric bill when he's talking to you.
Asking employees to RTO is not inherently unreasonable. While hybrid has been a benefit for many of us, it's been 5 years since the pandemic began and I, for one, never expected this to continue forever. Where I have an issue is in the suggestion that coming back 5 days will improve work culture and present more career development opportunities. This argument would carry a lot more weight had organizations not just been required to flatten and eliminate management roles and reporting structures. If there are opportunities to be had, it would be nice to know where. As it stands, I'm not seeing any.
As for IT, RTO would be a wakeup for a number of folks. What use to be spread across 3-4 floors could be consolidated down to 1 or 2. I know teams that went from 10 to 2 with a remote manager. Other teams went from 18 to 5 and a local manager. It's a common story in IT, between the outsourcing on the Ops side, the hiring freeze, the layoffs last year at this time, there's no one left. Working in IT use to means something, now it's just another line job in a factory. Nick, the Board and Therace are all at fault. Bill is just playing the hand he's been dealt. Don't expect it to get better any time soon.
Who else here is now looking for a new job? Once I land a new position, I'm not even giving two weeks. I'll give 24 hours out of respect to my supervisor and I'm gone. AEP would let me go in a heartbeat. They deserve the same from me.
Let’s keep it positive. We finally paid the sec $19 million to settle the householder case, so there are no longer potential sec settlements hanging out there!
Gallup "93% of employees in remote-capable jobs prefer to work remotely at least some of the week." For those employees who sit at a computer to work all day long (not just IT), what is the company gaining by making its employees unhappy? Why return to 5 days a week instead of remote employees becoming hybrid? Prior to the pandemic, some departments allowed WFH on Fridays. Also, people took more sick/mental health days. And how many sallaried employees work an hour or two more everyday just because they don't have to commute, don't have to leave work on time/early because everything from doctors to kids' schools are closer to home than work and a 20 minute drive home is doubled or trippled during rush hour? Work-life balance. Having a window open in the spring versus a stuffy old building with sealed windows is healthier. Having your cat or dog nearby for stress relief. You control the temperature (hello hot flashes!), you have a standing desk at home. PowerPoint presentations using MS Teams is a wonderful WFH tool! The old rich retired male executives cannot change, grow...their way or the highway...
I think the reason IT isn't coming back is they don't want everyone to see how many were cut. We all kind of know.. But Floors that are only 1/4 full or has 4x the teams on it that it used to would be a wake up call.
Carving out IT says so much, speaks louder than the RTO announcement itself. I get it that some functions are offshore, but why can’t the rest of the IT group come in office? If this is truly about collaboration, aren’t they the people that need to be in office with everyone else?
They really underestimate the effect of RTO. There are a significant amount of people with significant knowledge that will just retire. I’m not at retirement age but fully prepared to walk out the day after ICP and with nothing else lined up. But maybe that’s what they want
Not sure what pushed up the timeline but as others have said, this had been the worst kept secret for some time. I overheard a few fellow old-timers saying today that they hoped Bill knew what he was doing and it that it seemed this decision was recently made.
This decision was not was made recently and anyone that tells you otherwise is uninformed or a kool-aid drinker. Happened months ago. Hard to believe the CEO thought he could keep the lid on it this long. This rollout has been nothing short of an abject failure at the very top of the organization. Brutal.
When were they ACTUALLY planning to announce this RTO? Seems like a timeline was pushed up by the Reddit posts today…..
Therace and her managers must feel they are untouchable. Everyone is coming back in except for IT and a few other smaller groups. They've cut IT to the bone with all of the outsourcing, they can't afford to lose anymore state side. The guys in India are not up to the task to keep the lights on, even after 4 yrs, they're still barely able to keep up.
This RTO may break the camel's back if and when IT has to go back. There will be a lot of people that will leave, retire, quit, give up and resign to the fact they have to start the grind all over again. The added expense of Columbus taking 2.5% of my pay for nothing in return, cost of gas, insurance higher, wear and tear on the car. You name it, everything goes up except for the pay. I'll bet we get 2.5% avg pay raise this year but it won't keep up with inflation that's been higher for the past 4 years.
Thanks Bill (sarcasm)
Unionize.
I think it's safe to say that Bill and everyone at the top anticipated overwhelming negative reaction to this decision, and it's something that they are prepared for. You don't make an announcement like this just to fold at the first sign of unrest. They're ready for the employee dissatisfaction and anger.
Stop crying big babies, oh and welcome back to work, the rest of us have been here keeping the lights and infrastructure working while you were gone.
I’d almost be willing to go in - and throw a party while doing it - if we could roll back the co-sourcing.
Also, why is it that grocery store workers are savvy enough to unionized but IT shops are not. We certainly have the tech skills to do this. What is wrong with us?
The weight of negative public opinion is like a rising tsunami, if it continues unabated the corporate board, major shareholders and hedge fund raiders are going to realize that no amount of wealth or political campaign financing can save you from the consequences of your sins against a virtuous society. Members of the Virginia General Assembly are so concerned they are considering a bill to freeze APCO electric rates for 2 years.
In addition to all the other mess, AEP left 17000 people without power on the coldest night of the year due to poor infrastructure. The public is angry. The employees are furious about many things. Applause to the poor guys that had to go out in -10 wind chills and restore power, but it should have been ready for that load. It was no secret that subzero cold was coming. Now we have confirmed proof of leadership lying to employees. In my annual review of the company (I wish), to use a quote, "I'm very disappointed."
Psh. Unreal.
Personal context on why this move is so devastating. For me. A few years ago, my ailing sister moved into my home. Her options were either a longterm facility, or to live with someone who could help to care for her throughout the day.
Working remotely, then hybrid has allowed me to make her breakfast before I start working, take her to the bathroom a few times during the day when she needed, and check in on her. A caregiver supports her the other days I’m in office.
I’ve also been able to avoid after school costs for my child two days a week, which amounts to about $500 in savings a month. She just comes home and quietly does her homework while I plug away at work, or she helps her aunt out if needed. This entire time, I’ve done my job and done it very well. My team doesn’t even know my personal circumstances which is an indicator of how successful I’ve been at managing this wonderfully challenging life of mine.
So now, I’m out of the $500 for childcare , and I have the choice of spending more than I make each month to pay for daily in-home care for my sibling, or to put her into a facility. I’m devastated that AEP did this. This cannot be the company I’ve given so many years to. I feel like this is no longer the AEP we built.
If this was truly about productivity I think he would/should have given specific examples. It was very light on the details. Just a bunch of vague language about "stakeholder value" and "tremendous opportunity."
If our productivity was really so bad I want to know how. In what ways have we failed? Did everyone fail equally? How was it being measured? Tell us.
ICP payout is March 14th. Start interviewing now and beat all the lazy ones that will wait till later to start. Get your $ and vote with your feet. IT people are mostly sc--wed but there is still a great hiring market for engineers and construction people.
I would highly suggest that everyone reading this comment, go to GlassDoor and leave your honest rating and feedback on the current state of AEP. This is no where near the same company from 10 years ago and that should be reflected on their overall rating.
Technology will soon follow. It's not a bad thing. Half of my coworkers in tech have quiet quit but are too lazy to leave.
I think he's just jumping on the bandwagon. There's a lot of news right now about big companies going back to full in-office and I think a lot of executive leadership feel like this is their chance to reign WFH back in and re-establish control over their employees.
Quite honestly, Bill strikes me as an airhead. The email was pathetic. Just a flurry of buzzwords. I wonder if he even has the self-awareness to feel ashamed at sending something like that out.
The irony is that Bill himself is technically remote. Of course he has access to a private jet and car service at the company’s expense.
It is really strange because AEP pays below market for most of its white collar positions. The hybrid / remote perk is actually a damn good draw for talent to take a lower salary.
This goes to show that leadership at big orgs is not forward thinking. Every org is running lean. This can’t be to encourage resignations because we already have a ton of openings out. What is Bill’s real purpose here? Pressure from the board? Political signaling?
Mr. Berkshire Hathaway himself has finally brought down the hammer on the lazy employees of AEP who do nothing but take away money from our precious shareholders.
Remote workers get a pass, but that’s only for now. I expect that will be to encourage resignations in the fall if O&M is under control. I’d expect us all to be back in office by Summer 2026
Bill just sent out an email confirming 5 days a week in-office beginning June 1st.
He says we need this because of performance issues.
The IT guys in India are conveniently not required to be in-office and will continue enjoying the benefits of WFH.
It's interesting that they want full RTO but they make all these exceptions for certain people who have already been granted full remote. I guess you were either at the right place, right time to get these benefits or else they are gone for ever. They'll say we need RTO to "foster collaboration" or something like that while simultaneously creating a class structure where some employees are given special privileges that others can't have.
Return to office for anyone within 50 miles of an office is required beginning June 1. To use Bill’s language… I’m disappointed by this. This was not the employment agreement that I accepted. Our lives have been built around this way of working. They will get less out of me because I’ll now have to spend a few hours a day in the car… go out for lunch…etc etc. this is old school 90’s leadership style. Definitely not progressive.
“Also some organizations pushed back and are remaining hybrid and remote.”
Does anyone know which organizations???
I was in a meeting a few months ago with director level management and he was adamant that remote employees would not lose their privileges. Then again Bill said he had no intention of changing the hybrid schedule so who knows. I guess they can just do whatever they want. They're the ones who really bring the "star power" to AEP, we are just the lowly grubs who do the actual work.
How long until the "Ask Bill" articles stop being posted?
don’t know when rto will be announced but heard it will go into effect on June 1
For the people in the know concerning RTO- any idea when they will officially announce it?
APCO and PSO management agreed that hybrid would go to the office full time. Does this mean the remote workers in those OpCo's are going back in the office too? Also some organizations pushed back and are remaining hybrid and remote.