Lots of IT people cut in Columbus
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Let the firings continue until morale improves.
Let the purges begin. Long live the state. Are they going to start offering bonuses if we rat out people who are unhappy soon?
I LOVED AEP. I was there 18 years and loved it until Therace came in and destroyed morale, the culture, and the feeling that AEP cared about the employees. This is what hiring an unqualified person for the sake of diversity. I was SHOCKED when I was let go in January. It’s very sad to see what has happened to the IT organization. I used to recommend people to work at AEP. Not anymore. So sad. I loved working there and planned on retiring from there. :-(
IT has been tasked to do broad keyword searches on all corporate owned devices. The word "Therace" is on the list of flagged words. Do with that info what you will.
A career at AEP, I had to laugh. That died in May, 2020. From the very beginning it's been you can and will be replaced at our whim. You're lucky to have a job and when we decide you can be replaced by some guy in India, you're gone. The former AEP managers are so scared they'll do anything to keep their jobs because they know she'll replace them with a cronie or a TCS contractor.
Read Therace's email to IT and it's absolutely pathetic. The woman has no clue what she sowed. She thinks it's great we cut IT to point where the limbs are barely hanging on, projects cut, maintenance put off, people cut and we're doing great. Anyone who can afford to retire, do so. Do not stick around. If you can get another job, leave. Give your 2 weeks and just leave for a place that will give you a career and not just a paycheck.
Ops leadership is very good at picking the d-mbest strategy and then being advised by HR and Comm leadership on the least effective means of communicating it. The past year has demonstrated that this is a company full of mediocre-to-terrible individuals in middle management and higher ranks, when it comes to actual work, whose only actual strengths are personal branding and mutual self-fluffing of everyones brilliance in that club.
I just don't care anymore.
I think a lot of people were disappointed with the company and how they handled it. There is so much I'll will towards the company internally it's unreal. I have never seen it this bad. They would have been better off doing mandatory cuts in the groups left out in Jan. Then next month ask for volunteers across all BUs. Or they should have asked for volunteers in Jan
Psh… Unreal…
When a company lays off employees, especially if they are also customers, often it creates a negative perception. Employees feel betrayed or undervalued, leading to decreased morale and loyalty.
It also raises questions about the company’s ethics and commitment to its workforce.
With these ongoing layoffs I am curious about the effect on a company’s reputation as a responsible employer.
Curious, after the February layoffs, was that followed by rate increases for services? If so, could that give a perception they are profiteering at employee's expense?
As a customer/employee wouldn’t you prefer that the company support local employment and contribute to the community?
My heart goes out to those impacted in by the February and the April (and the one after).
Very interesting
Speaking from IT. When I came here I was so impressed with how well everyone worked together and how lean IT was. We were able to be lean because we had personal relationships with everyone we relied on. AEP IT did more with less than any IT I have ever seen, and I have seen a lot. Then in comes Therace and dismantles it all. Now we have rotating TCS id--ts that just got out of high school. If any of them show promise, they rip them out immediately and send them to a higher paying Customer. Now we are hemorrhaging money and getting nothing done. Great job Therace, if you wanted to destroy AEP, you couldn't have done a better job. Why is our Board still allowing this to happen?
Morale in my team has been at rock bottom for a couple of years now, and the hits just keep coming, and no one cares. We were literally told ‘be thankful you have a job’. Might not even be able to say that to us in a couple months….
Looks like mostly all the non union positions All office, engineering, administration, etc.
Which business units were targeted?
Agreed, not sure we hit rock bottom but seems like we are very close. No wonder they got rid of the annual employee survey. Could you imagine what the numbers would be this year.
I’ve been with AEP for 40+ years and I have never seen the employee moral any worse. It’s almost like management takes great joy in making everyone miserable. The field employees, the ones that keep the lights on, were excluded from the severance. While management enjoys their 15% and up ICP awards the field employees were cut from 5% to 3%. I truly feel sorry for the people that are going to lose their jobs due to a company that is horribly ran. If it wasn’t for a guaranteed return through the regulated companies AEP would have been bankrupt years ago.
It is only 26.6% of the eligible employees......
Before the announcement, the leaker said that amount was needed to reduce the costs. They’ll probably try to get 500-600 to volunteer then discharge another 500-600 to try to meet the target.
Where are people hearing the 2000 people/10% of employees from? If it's true, 2000 out of 7500 people is an insanely large amount to cut...
The second email that came out to the 9400 not eligible was all disaster control. Personally the Board is a disaster in their handling of this. Based on track record, I'm sure they'll sc--w up the new CEO hire.
Has the communication been released ? If so, how many eligible ?
IT seems exempt from these voluntary layoffs. Where else are they going to cut? I’m hearing ~10% or more need to go for this to be a success.
7400 eligible out of 16,800 employees. Communication being released shortly.
Look at work day. It’s a thing.
There are easier ways to find the leak. The issue is when it was leaked, sr mgmt. just made it worse by not saying a word about the plan. You're messing with people's lives at this stage. They are more concerned about the stock price than the employees. Well, if it is true and we'll know shortly, I know I'll take it if I meet the requirements. If not, the culture at AEP is dead and it's now just a job that I work 40 hours and be dam if I'll take a call on the weekends.
This plan has been in place for a several weeks. The delay is not to stop the plan but to find the leaker. This is going to be very unpopular but lots of people are going to take advantage of it. I believe that Sr. “Leadership” is not trying to avoid it, they are trying to message it to prevent it being clearly their fault.
I agree but the Board did meet today. Not sure they would have made an announcement at 4 pm on a Tuesday. It would be more likely they would say something tomorrow or Thursday if they at all. You're not going to get anything out of IT MGMT staff, these are the same people that told everyone TCS was here to fill in gaps. They'll lie to the staff at a drop of a hat if it makes themselves look better. Your right, if it doesn't work out this time, there's always next quarter.
As more time goes by, this seems like a rumor run amok. Surely if upper management is planning something they won't let it go this long without at least a "heads up" video. I feel a lot of folks that have been looking forward to this are going to be disappointed - especially if there is nothing announced soon.
That's the problem with a rumor, nothing is concrete. Board would have to approve it based on the amount of money that will be paid out. I could see them wanting to get all of the cuts behind them before a new CEO is named. Let Ben take the heat for the Layoffs and buy outs.
Any more news about the buy outs or layoffs ?
Tata Consultant Services. They are out of India.They don't produce anything, they just take over US jobs, ship them overseas and pay a whole lot less You get what you pay for. They are a joke and no where near the caliber of US techs, they're just cheaper.
I am a spouse of an AEP employee. What is TCS?
I think a lot of people are hoping the Board approves the buy out and for a small group of people, they can move on to another job or retirement. Personally I hope enough critical people leave to make TCS sweat because they know they don't have the staff to support a utility. I get the feeling these guys come from other accounts that do not have the application set AEP does and they are just over their heads.
@1zyco+1qB6FXi3 I’m not really sure how you got as many down reacts as positive ones. I’m in the same boat as you. Everything changed. While I don’t want to be fired if there was severance offered if you choose to leave I would jump on it. I would think anyone that is considering leaving would at least strongly considerate it. Maybe we are just being trolled on here by someone with nothing better to do. But I hope that it’s true about the severance.
I went from loving this place to wishing I’d never worked here very quickly. The rumors I’ve read on here really got my hopes up about voluntary lay offs. I don’t know where that information came from but I’m doubtful my department will be offered it. If we are I know a few that will be wanting it. Trying to limit my expectations is all.
I don't mind the work, grew up on a farm, I can handle the work load. What I can't handle is all the backstabbing from management. Putting people on PIPs for no other reason than to drive them out to make room for cronies. We'll know either by 9a or not
I would think it's opened to everyone if all you want to do is lower O&M cost. Who cares which BU provided the savings, it helps with O&M cost. As far as the amount, think you're looking at 6 months max, plus whatever you have saved as vacation.
Do we think the voluntary layoffs are mainly in the opcos, or Corp also? Would they even entertain this in IT given recent deep cuts? I’m in IT and would really like to leave if there’s an opportunity to do so with fair severance. I was reorg’d into a new area and it’s just miserable. Too much work. Disorganized. I want to leave.