One of the best threads I've tracked on TexAgs in a while! Often times in learning or receiving advice, I takeaway much more from how I would NOT want to do something, than how to do it. Kudos to you all for showing both.

Great thread, except the old guy that thinks the work world will never change.

Ag92NGranbury said:

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we'll agree to disagree... time will tell and i'll keep this post bookmarked...

my advice to others that i know that are WFH, as the market softens is to get your butt back in the office, be visible and keep those blinders on...

one more piece of advice... at 7.5 posts a day... just remember that marketing goes first :-)

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https://cnn.it/3VCnjQH

Read it and weep!

Ghost of Bisbee said:

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Ag92NGranbury said:

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we'll agree to disagree... time will tell and i'll keep this post bookmarked...

my advice to others that i know that are WFH, as the market softens is to get your butt back in the office, be visible and keep those blinders on...

one more piece of advice... at 7.5 posts a day... just remember that marketing goes first :-)

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https://cnn.it/3VCnjQH

Read it and weep!

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So did they work 4 x 10 or 4 x 8… or?

Per this article - https://edition.cnn.com/2022/10/04/business/four-day-work-week-risk-takers/index.html - it looks like it's a reduction of hours, not just a day...so 4x8 vs 4x10.

JDCAG (NOT Colin) said:

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Per this article - https://edition.cnn.com/2022/10/04/business/four-day-work-week-risk-takers/index.html - it looks like it's a reduction of hours, not just a day...so 4x8 vs 4x10.

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As you read, think about how productive they'd be with the 5 day workweek and same tactics. They got more work done by things like:

" Slowly, the team has adapted, and introduced new habits that have made all the difference. Now, internal meetings are capped to 15 minutes, and client meetings to 30 minutes. Emails to colleagues are not allowed to exceed more than a quarter of a day's total emails.

In particular, Losey's staff swears by a "traffic light" system to reduce distractions in the office. Colleagues have a light on their desk, and set it to green if they are happy to talk, amber if they are busy but available to speak, and red if they do not want to be interrupted.

"If [their] button is red, go after someone at your peril," Losey said.

Conroy said he has introduced "deep work time" where, for two hours every morning and two hours every afternoon, his staff ignore emails, calls or instant messages and concentrate on their projects.

His team has even started unplugging the office phones, as they were too distracting. Clients were initially bothered, he said, but have since responded by sending more emails."

I wish all sales people would follow the unplug phone method.

Also unplug their email.

I was recently laid off. 16 years with the same company. I was called in, my boss' boss and the HR rep from my BU were present. I was informed my position was not longer available due to company transformation and that my last day would be 12/31.

Then the boss lady left and HR explained severance and and a few other things.

They both informed me that if I was to find another position in the company, I could apply for those and they would support me moving elsewhere.

And 'my position going away'? Well, actually, I'm currently training my replacement.

This all happened on 10/25.

On 10/27 I applied for 3 internal positions. 2 I was highly qualified for, 1 not so much. The job postings closed 11/4. On 11/12 I got notice that I did not get the 1 position I wasn't as qualified for.

Since then, I've heard nothing. HR won't tell me what's up, the hiring manager hasn't answered or returned calls, my boss won't spend 5 minutes to help me out.

Sorry brother, unfortunately i know the feeling. Hopefully you feel good about the severance, if not (or maybe anyway) and you haven't signed anything, you might discuss your situation with an employment atty. I don't know how old you are but at a previous employer i was aware of a successful age discrimination suit that sounds a lot like what you described (laying off experienced employee after asking them to train young/cheap person).

Charismatic Megafauna said:

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Sorry brother, unfortunately i know the feeling. Hopefully you feel good about the severance, if not (or maybe anyway) and you haven't signed anything, you might discuss your situation with an employment atty. I don't know how old you are but at a previous employer i was aware of a successful age discrimination suit that sounds a lot like what you described (laying off experienced employee after asking them to train young/cheap person).

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43. not sure if that qualifies.

Training a younger, cheaper, pregnant female that is going to take another 4 months off in 4 months.

And she is my friend, a ChemE that wants to get into process engineering but is being forced into logistics and planning.

Which of the c-suite's baby is she carrying?
I kid... hope it works out for you

Leeman said:

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The "find another job in the company" is a joke. Never happens.

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The day they told me to apply for jobs is the day I told my wife it's just a small carrot they're dangling at the tip of my nose to keep a glimmer of (false) hope.

El Chupacabra said:

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Charismatic Megafauna said:

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Sorry brother, unfortunately i know the feeling. Hopefully you feel good about the severance, if not (or maybe anyway) and you haven't signed anything, you might discuss your situation with an employment atty. I don't know how old you are but at a previous employer i was aware of a successful age discrimination suit that sounds a lot like what you described (laying off experienced employee after asking them to train young/cheap person).

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43. not sure if that qualifies.

Training a younger, cheaper, pregnant female that is going to take another 4 months off in 4 months.

And she is my friend, a ChemE that wants to get into process engineering but is being forced into logistics and planning.

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Of course it is. If she even comes back. So by firing you they are going to knowingly lose at least 1 year of work from your role by doing this by backfilling you with her.

Sorry you are going through this. Complete crap.

i felt compelled to share some recent news stories


https://www.wsj.com/articles/tech-an-early-booster-of-remote-work-wants-people-back-in-the-office-6565b840?st=dg0kl6hviq7b8cv&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink


https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bosses-fed-remote-4-main-193500794.html?.tsrc=daily_mail&uh_test=0_00

do you own a business?

Bexar Ag said:

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do you own a business?

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yes...sorry...didn't see the question till now



in other news... looks like my predictions are continuing to materialize... and there is a lot of irony in this one...

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/07/business/zoom-return-to-office.html

It's an easy (and lazy) way to weed people out

The primary argument was about a 4-day workweek.

My F100 org is still leaving it up to each department VP to determine work styles. We're still working remotely, but we have desks for those of us who want to go into the office. We all come in simultaneously for a week 1x/quarter. Remote work isn't ending anytime soon for us

be patient, young jedi

I had this happen and they actually found me a position that I prefer more than my old that's fully remote.

I know that's the 1/100 but it does happen. They then laid off 17% of the company 3 months later and I made that cut.

Quote:

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August 8

Tyson Foods said it would close four poultry facilities in Arkansas, Indiana and Missouri, affecting thousands of employees, including nearly 2,200 at two sites in the cities of Noel and Dexter, Missouri, according to a WARN noticea Tyson Foods spokesperson told Forbes all affected employees are "encouraged to apply for open, posted roles within the company."

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Any Poultry Science people in here? Is this due to bird flu, lack of demand, lack of supply, or all of the above?

Ghost of Bisbee said:

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On remote work, the days of going into the office the majority of the week are waning. You're fighting an uphill battle, a battle which the majority of millennials and Gen Z workers are staunchly against.

On the other side, your assumption is 4 day workweeks mean you work less than a 5 day workweeks. That's not accurate.

Here's one example from Microsoft linked here. 40% boost in productivity in a country whose people define their identity by their work arguably more than any other country in the world. https://www.npr.org/2019/11/04/776163853/microsoft-japan-says-4-day-workweek-boosted-workers-productivity-by-40

Facts are facts. If you can't acknowledge that, I can't help you

Keep an eye on this too, massive 4-day workweek experiment happening over the summer in the UK:
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/newyork/news/worlds-largest-4-day-workweek-experiment-launched-in-uk/

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just remember where you heard this first :-)


'amazon ends work from home'


https://finance.yahoo.com/news/amazon-ceo-wants-workers-five-175701613.html?.tsrc=372&ncid=crm_-1400370-20240917-1&bt_user_id=0eDtHMAdPaRUlwV2ZYNz8Q30sVqM%2FmnnvzVW0M98H3n9SIEblZhhppB6rgf4u4yEHjOhC56bJbhF%2F0MTX6L%2FuCnQVSAgxlZYnKNh0VirDqMjaMpqFavfOtMez4b%2FhOx6&bt_ts=1726567285532

YouBet said:

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El Chupacabra said:

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Charismatic Megafauna said:

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Sorry brother, unfortunately i know the feeling. Hopefully you feel good about the severance, if not (or maybe anyway) and you haven't signed anything, you might discuss your situation with an employment atty. I don't know how old you are but at a previous employer i was aware of a successful age discrimination suit that sounds a lot like what you described (laying off experienced employee after asking them to train young/cheap person).

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43. not sure if that qualifies.

Training a younger, cheaper, pregnant female that is going to take another 4 months off in 4 months.

And she is my friend, a ChemE that wants to get into process engineering but is being forced into logistics and planning.

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Of course it is. If she even comes back. So by firing you they are going to knowingly lose at least 1 year of work from your role by doing this by backfilling you with her.

Sorry you are going through this. Complete crap.

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She's pregnant again. Taking another 4 months off in about a month. If she keeps having babies, she'll never have to work she hates the job she was put into anyway).

Until you get a new VP or they change their mind about remote work.

She's too dangerous to fire. So they had to toss you instead.

Pendulum continues to swing....

https://nypost.com/2024/10/09/business/dell-staffers-forced-to-return-to-office-on-short-notice-report/

Still working remotely over here, even a year after a CEO change. In fact, more from our company are continuing to move across the US to work remotely from different states.

My argument was always about the 4 day workweek btw, not working remotely.
But it still stands for my company, even as the profit margins get tighter.

Our company did have a RIF a few months ago of about 10%.
Thankfully not one of the employees in my org were impacted.

Might be a 1 day work week once AI rolls out completely :-)

As economic conditions change, I do expect that a majority of WFH experiments will have ended. I also suspect that 4 day work weeks will be pushed back into 5 days. Just my opinion, but the pickup of ending WFH is a lot faster than I thought it would be.

El Chupacabra said:

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YouBet said:

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El Chupacabra said:

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Charismatic Megafauna said:

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Sorry brother, unfortunately i know the feeling. Hopefully you feel good about the severance, if not (or maybe anyway) and you haven't signed anything, you might discuss your situation with an employment atty. I don't know how old you are but at a previous employer i was aware of a successful age discrimination suit that sounds a lot like what you described (laying off experienced employee after asking them to train young/cheap person).

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43. not sure if that qualifies.

Training a younger, cheaper, pregnant female that is going to take another 4 months off in 4 months.

And she is my friend, a ChemE that wants to get into process engineering but is being forced into logistics and planning.

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Of course it is. If she even comes back. So by firing you they are going to knowingly lose at least 1 year of work from your role by doing this by backfilling you with her.

Sorry you are going through this. Complete crap.

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She's pregnant again. Taking another 4 months off in about a month. If she keeps having babies, she'll never have to work she hates the job she was put into anyway).

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And females complain about lower pay and that men are preferred.

Too many excuses women have for not working. Too much hassle. In the end, work needs to get done for a business to survive. Whether an employee is pregnant or not is of no concern to a firm.

Ag92NGranbury said:

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Might be a 1 day work week once AI rolls out completely :-)

As economic conditions change, I do expect that a majority of WFH experiments will have ended. I also suspect that 4 day work weeks will be pushed back into 5 days. Just my opinion, but the pickup of ending WFH is a lot faster than I thought it would be.

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When AI takes over everything, the only job left would be investing in those AI companies.