Unpopular Opinion [NO POLITICS, RELIGION]

[JMcLellan]

Originally Posted by OkieSnuffBox

We already worked from home 2 days per week, pre-COVID. Been full-time WFH since the OKC Thunder game that was canceled and then everything went crazy the next. They even closed our OKC at the end of 2021.

Our Senior VP has actually told us multiple times in all hands we have been more productive WFH and we need to take more time for ourselves.



I also work for a large company, underneath an even larger company. Currently in our quarterly All Hands, we hired 2,000 new employees in the last 6 months.

As to your last sentence, you're falling into the trap of thinking your experience is everyone's experience. We are so productive WFH, Ellison told us in 2020 that regardless what happens with COVID in the future we can WFH permanently and in 2021 they closed the OKC office because everyone said they'd rather work from home.

Man, you called me out again for the "your experience is not everyone's experience". Last week was CostCo....

I was trying to quality my opinion by saying this is my experience based on working for the large company I work for, not trying to speak for others. Thanks for keeping me honest though and sounds like you have a senior VP that gets it.

[OkieSnuffBox]

Originally Posted by JMcLellan

Man, you called me out again for the "your experience is not everyone's experience". Last week was CostCo....

I was trying to quality my opinion by saying this is my experience based on working for the large company I work for, not trying to speak for others. Thanks for keeping me honest though and sounds like you have a senior VP that gets it.

Haha no worries, just like I know my experience isn't the same people have working for big tech companies (which is VERY different than working for big manufacturing or defense contractors that I worked for in the past.)

[JMcLellan]

Originally Posted by OkieSnuffBox

Haha no worries, just like I know my experience isn't the same people have working for big tech companies (which is VERY different than working for big manufacturing or defense contractors that I worked for in the past.)

Is the company performing well overall? I do believe that helps with allowing more autonomy across how teams/employees are managed.

Our current reality is that we can no longer blame Covid or supply-chain issues for our revenue shortfalls. Meanwhile our competitors are growing and grabbing our market share and have shown strong recovery post-covid. The majority of these shortfalls are due to strategic decisions made prior to covid that we are paying for now; has nothing to do with employees not being in the office and our CEO is tone-deaf on the topic.

[2008M36MT]

Originally Posted by OkieSnuffBox

Haha no worries, just like I know my experience isn't the same people have working for big tech companies (which is VERY different than working for big manufacturing or defense contractors that I worked for in the past.)

I also work for a large global corporation under another even larger multinational corporation, in the defense industry. Naturally, the folks in operations worked right through COVID, but the SBU VPs have relative autonomy, so at site A, some have pushed for return to the office, at site B, they don't give two hoots. Overall though corporate has been supportive of WFH, not really making any efficiency/inefficiency arguments, just generally noting that we have been successful as a whole through COVID. Profits are good, bonuses are being paid. However, I have noticed a significant decrease of WFH jobs on the career site, most are now hybrid or on-site, even for the corporate/business support functions.

[OkieSnuffBox]

Originally Posted by JMcLellan

Is the company performing well overall? I do believe that helps with allowing more autonomy across how teams/employees are managed.

Our current reality is that we can no longer blame Covid or supply-chain issues for our revenue shortfalls. Meanwhile our competitors are growing and grabbing our market share and have shown strong recovery post-covid. The majority of these shortfalls are due to strategic decisions made prior to covid that we are paying for now; has nothing to do with employees not being in the office and our CEO is tone-deaf on the topic.

I would say so, we keep adding "labels," ie new customers. And we hired 2,000 people in the last 6 months although it sounds like now that is going to be dramatically slowed or a hiring freeze likely for the rest of the fiscal year, July 1st. Revenue and profits continued to grow through COVID with more people doing shopping online and such.

I think this puts us around 13-14k employees?

With the owning company around 170k between all the different GBU's.

[JMcLellan]

Curious on this topic: work-stress/pressure is self-induced.

[wtwo3]

Originally Posted by JMcLellan

Curious on this topic: work-stress/pressure is self-induced.

Definitely an interesting topic.

I think it's half true.... work-stress/pressure is 50% self-induced and 50% external factors (expectations/deadlines/politics/leadership/direct reports etc). But that also depends on field of work I'd imagine.

I just got out of a "war room" this morning where I spent half the meeting aligning teams through massive disconnect - the reason for this disconnect? recent reorgs without proper execution at the executive level. Tempers flair in those situations since it becomes a finger-pointing session of responsibilities and it's my job to make sure the teams align on where those responsibilities lie.

As for the other 50% that IS self-induced - yeah.... either you're not doing your job and missing deadlines and the pressure builds up, or you're overly dedicated to your job and sacrificing personal commitments.

[OkieSnuffBox]

Originally Posted by JMcLellan

Curious on this topic: work-stress/pressure is self-induced.

That's a good question.

I worry because I've been through and/or missed lay offs at every company I've been at. And got hit 2 times with layoffs.

My fiance was just laid off on Thursday, they gave her a big salary to come in and get a bunch of new clients setup.........then hired some kids for half her salary and sent her packing.

"Because of budget issues"

[wtwo3]

I have no idea if this is an unpopular opinion... but....

Peanut butter M&Ms > peanut M&Ms > regular M&Ms

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by wtwo3

I have no idea if this is an unpopular opinion... but....

Peanut butter M&Ms > peanut M&Ms > regular M&Ms

Peanut M&Ms are my favorite M&Ms.

Favorite candy is Reese's Big Cups.

PS - my opinion is probably NOT unpopular.

[tranquility]

Originally Posted by OkieSnuffBox

That's a good question.

I worry because I've been through and/or missed lay offs at every company I've been at. And got hit 2 times with layoffs.

My fiance was just laid off on Thursday, they gave her a big salary to come in and get a bunch of new clients setup.........then hired some kids for half her salary and sent her packing.

"Because of budget issues"

That's pretty disgusting, hope she lands on her feet. That's why I think it's funny/sad ppl give their all to employers (e.g. eat all meals there, even dinner and beyond, skipping personal life, basically living in the office, etc), screw them, cuz they won't hesitate to screw you if the bottom line says so. The ironic thing is that the ppl making those inhuman decisions don't realize that they are also expendable.

[Serf27]

Not sure if it has been said or if you will come for my head, but it is ok to buy replacement parts from somewhere else besides the dealer.

[vbb]

Originally Posted by JMcLellan

Curious on this topic: work-stress/pressure is self-induced.

I think this is somewhat related to a few of the other opinions that have been circulated in this thread. I think as a whole, North American society has become much more vocal about classifying the things that make them uncomfortable as being wrong/unfair/hostile.

The whole employer/employee agreement in a salaried job is that the employer will give the employee assignments and tasks to accomplish within that work week. In theory, the compensation is not just for production, but also as a way to offset the stress/uncomfortable-ness of the work. The employer pays a salary for an end product, but also pays knowing that it might be stressful at times to produce that end product on time. If it were easy for just anyone to meet the deadlines, the salary would be lower.

So yes, I think a lot of employers ask for way too much to get accomplished in too short an amount of time. But I also think a lot of employees feel as if any work-related pressure is completely unfair, even though that's literally what they are being paid for. Everyone wants to get the best end of the deal... employers want to get great production for lower pay, and employees want great salaries for easy jobs. Neither should be getting what they want 100% of the time. But it is unreasonable to act like you should feel no work related stress at all, and I do think a lot of that is self-inflicted due to these unreasonable expectations.

[Roman]

Originally Posted by Esteban

Peanut M&Ms are my favorite M&Ms.

Favorite candy is Reese's Big Cups.

PS - my opinion is probably NOT unpopular.

The only thing even close to being as good as a Reese's Big Cup is their holiday edition candies like eggs and trees. And the only thing better than a Reese's egg is a Snickers egg.

[Esteban]

Originally Posted by Roman

The only thing even close to being as good as a Reese's Big Cup is their holiday edition candies like eggs and trees. And the only thing better than a Reese's egg is a Snickers egg.

I also love me some Cadbury Creme eggs.

[CTinline-six]

Originally Posted by JMcLellan

Curious on this topic: work-stress/pressure is self-induced.

I also think it is 50% true. I think a lot of stress is related to your environment and outside factors, like how stable your job is, how easily your co-workers are to get along with, political pressures within the office environment, etc. Not to mention the pace and general attitude of the work you do.

I manage the technology for one of the departments on a college campus. There are certain times that can be stressful or have pressure due to unplanned events that happen, time of the semester, working with individuals that are untrustworthy or corrupt, or having deadlines to meet. As a whole the job is not a high stress environment compared to say a hospital trauma center where it can be life and death, or a job where your income fluctuates depending on factors outside of your control.

Originally Posted by Serf27

Not sure if it has been said or if you will come for my head, but it is ok to buy replacement parts from somewhere else besides the dealer.

I think unless someone owns a car under warranty, the dealer is the absolute worst place to take your car for repair. Most of the dealer techs are fresh out of school, and their training focuses on the cars that are brand new sitting on the lot, as well as the cars still within warranty. Most of the time they know absolutely nothing about anything beyond that scope. Granted I own two older vehicles because I like them, but even with new cars I've heard horror stories. Not saying all dealerships are bad, but they are a business, and many of their business principles involve upselling the customer on something they might not need.

The last time my E90 saw a dealer was for a recall, and I chuckled to myself as the techs looked for something they could sell me on, only to realize I take meticulous care of the car, it has no leaks, and the only thing they could try to sell me was a $1700 set of run flat tires since the Michelins I had on it were not factory run flats.

[Serf27]

Originally Posted by CTinline-six

I think unless someone owns a car under warranty, the dealer is the absolute worst place to take your car for repair. Most of the dealer techs are fresh out of school, and their training focuses on the cars that are brand new sitting on the lot, as well as the cars still within warranty. Most of the time they know absolutely nothing about anything beyond that scope. Granted I own two older vehicles because I like them, but even with new cars I've heard horror stories. Not saying all dealerships are bad, but they are a business, and many of their business principles involve upselling the customer on something they might not need.

The last time my E90 saw a dealer was for a recall, and I chuckled to myself as the techs looked for something they could sell me on, only to realize I take meticulous care of the car, it has no leaks, and the only thing they could try to sell me was a $1700 set of run flat tires since the Michelins I had on it were not factory run flats.

The dealer is my go to for specialty nuts and bolts when I can’t wait for online orders and that’s pretty much it.

Another unpopular opinion is that you do not need a torque wrench for every single nut and bolt.
Guaranteed there are techs running down some bolts with a gun and calling it a day.

You can also start a bolt into the threads right from the gun and not cross thread anything. -A lot of people seem to think this is completely inappropriate, but it’s pretty easy not to cross thread, lol.

[Gratefulm4]

Here we go…

1. 2017-2021 forever changed how I view both “patriotism” and religion.

2. Spending an entire weekend (or multiple weekends) on the couch watching sports is not an ideal use of anyone’s time.

3. Parents have no business meddling in your marriage.

4. Cats are a$$h0les.

5. Horse Power does not equal exhilaration.

6. Nu Metal produced some of the best bands ever.

[2008M36MT]

Pizza crust tastes poor and is a waste of calories…I never eat it.

[tranquility]

Just because someone can quote some obscure or even popular passage or poem, etc, doesn't make them more intelligent or cultured...it just means they memorized that said passage/poem/etc.

[OkieSnuffBox]

Originally Posted by tranquility

That's pretty disgusting, hope she lands on her feet. That's why I think it's funny/sad ppl give their all to employers (e.g. eat all meals there, even dinner and beyond, skipping personal life, basically living in the office, etc), screw them, cuz they won't hesitate to screw you if the bottom line says so. The ironic thing is that the ppl making those inhuman decisions don't realize that they are also expendable.

I was starting to get a little nervous about my own job seeing the Microsoft/Alphabet/Salesforce/Meta/Amazon layoffs.

But I read an article this morning on how they WAAAAAAY over hired between 2019 and last year. Amazon doubled in size, Meta 94%, Alphabet 57%, Microsoft 53%.

I'm still not 100% confident of anything, but we didn't way over hire like that.

I'm sure she will, she's very good at what she does. Her old job has already told her they'd be happy to have her back, but she isn't sure if she's willing to take the paycut to go back.

[F32Fleet]

If your predisposed towards having a mental illness weed can either trigger it or enhance it.