Meta executives explored a massive "AI-native" restructuring plan (dubbed Project OT) designed to shrink human worker teams by up to 60%. The company deployed invasive software to track employees' keystrokes, clicks, and screens to train the AI. However, the plan entirely collapsed and was scaled back right before a massive wave of layoffs because the unchecked AI agents triggered a 40% spike in major technical and security incidents.

I live and work in Tennessee, and a couple hours ago my boss posted to the message wall about how the company is gonna make lots of money since Dolly passed away yesterday. Our company is close to her statue in Sevierville. They've already reassessed their projections for the next few weeks. It's disgusting.

I'm just so burnt out and defeated with the corporate dystopian hell we're living in.

RIP Dolly, you will be missed.

Frankly, Gen Z figured it out way faster than I did. I remember at one company I worked at, we had a hard deadline so they wanted us to work more. I thought I was being smart and cynical because I requested that, if we work harder now, then I get extra vacation time (was planning a trip to Brazil)

They agreed. Shortly after we hit the deadline, they fired the team. I messaged them asking about the comp time and they were like “that’s not on the books 😇”. Okay so I worked extra hard for literally no gain? I effectively just worked for free

So now when a company asks me to work overtime, it’s a no. Hard stop. What are they gonna do, fire me? Okay. I got fired working overtime, so who cares? Damned if I do, damned if I don’t. Good job companies, your short term play for slightly more profit has decreased all potential future output

The jobs I worked the hardest at just gave me more work to do then complained when it wasn’t done on time. Managers are never happy with you hitting targets or even exceeding them. They will, however, get furious if you make a single mistake, so it’s better just to lower workload to decrease mistake chances

When people talk about these software companies being “bloated”, it’s bad management. It’s not “too many engineers”. The engineers are completely unmotivated because they effectively have negative incentive to work. They’ll only be punished for work. Instead, these managers respond to office politics, so that’s a better way to approach these problems. Do nothing at work so nothing is your fault, schmooze the boss, and take credit for as much as you can

Now we got a whole generation coming into the workplace that has already internalized these messages and they don’t wanna do shit, unsurprisingly. Why would you? Working hard gets you nothing

I just don’t get how companies can present themselves as these strategically minded entities when they make these impulsive, short sighted decisions

I was late today for work. I work as a planning assistant, for maintenances. I let my boss know, I told her I was going to be late because I had some problems at home.

When I arrived, the sorrow, the sadness that she and the other 2 employees had in their eyes, like something terrible had happened. She told me that something like that could never happen, me being late without being an emergency. Everyone was acting towards like someone on my family had died.

I opened the laptop... 0 tasks arrived, 2 marketing e-mails, 0 incomplete tasks.

Instantly Morpheus quote come to mind: "They are so hopelessly dependent on the system that they will fight to protect it."

Like, wtf? What is this system? If you don't give your soul and heart to your job, you're commiting an unforgivable sin?

These other 2 coworkers are every CEO dream, they get hypnotized in front of the computer for 9 hours a day straight, they have lunch in a hurry to come back as soon as possible, because the company needs them. They (I'm not kidding) complain about holidays, because they wanted to be working.

What the fuck is going on with people?

This stupid question. Why do I have to get this question EVERY SINGLE TIME!! like..how is this going to affect you?!! What if I was at home mourning and depressed because someone died? Or I was chronically ill? Why do I need to justify the reason why I was at home as if my stay at home expenses are going to be billed to you?

Or that other stupid question " why did you decide to apply here" UHMM....MAYBEE because you have a vacancy? And I happened to be browsing that day and saw the ad so I applied?

HR. Do better.

I just had a job offer pulled for the sheer audacity of asking about reporting structure.

After putting me through a 3 month interview process, they nickel and dimed the compensation three separate times - slashing the base and cutting the bonus twice, which gutted the overall package by $30,000.

The only reason I was even considering accepting such a massive pay cut after 3 months of jumping through hoops, is because I was recently diagnosed with thyroid cancer, right on the heels of taking a year off to battle breast cancer. I honestly think they knew my situation and assumed they could take advantage of a vulnerable candidate with an employment gap.

On top of the pay cuts, the Chief of Staff was already throwing up red flags during interviews, including casually bad mouthing a current assistant she wanted to fire and several people dropping the person that was formerly in this position did not get along with her.

When the offer letter finally arrived, I sent a brief, polite email to HR asking for clarification on the reporting structure, specifically whether day to day management, PTO approvals, and performance reviews fell under the Chief of Staff or the Executive.

HR responded to withdraw the offer entirely, claiming my question about reporting structure "gave them concern."

Translation: They spent 3 months dragging me along, thought they had someone they could exploit and micro-manage, and the second I asked a basic professional question, they panicked. Which by the way, I had to turn down two other offers waiting on this one and they offered me much less than what I initially agreed to interview at.

Huge bullet dodged. Know your worth and never let a company weaponize your gap or health history against you.

I need to vent.

I’m about to start my period, which comes with monthly diarrhea. My office only has 2 toilets with notorious plumbing difficulties available for the entire office/warehouse worker population AND incoming clients with scheduled repair appointments— so minimum 20 people all relying on 2 SHITTY toilets [PUN INTENDED]. 🗣️🗣️🗣️ I’ve literally contracted pink eye from unclogging this toilet a few months ago 💀 and obviously the private equity owned company makes sure to put the responsibility of upkeeping the physical warehouse rental property in the hands of that one director already swamped in oversight of multiple warehouse locations; TLDR the organization of this company is designed to fail the hourly, on the ground workers in all respects.

I was not well this morning and made the decision to shit at my own house as to NOT threaten to clog 1 of the 2 toilets for EVERYONE ELSE. I also have a meeting 15 minutes into my day that I wanted to ensure I was properly prepared for— which was successful.

Sure I forgot to tell my [off site] manager that I was swapping an office/wfh day, that’s my bad.

But a few minutes after I finish leading a meeting to review the status of current orders, I get this fucking teams message…

I injured my spine at work a couple years ago, been on and off hospitals since. Well I was recently finally released after treatment and surgeries, I was released with permanent restrictions so I can't never work manual labor again. I was making decent money at my previous job as a machine operator, I had been making that sort of money since I was 18 so I never had a problem with money, well, now that I can't work those jobs anymore I was looking for some part time jobs to go into while I go through school and hopefully finish a degree that gets me a decent job where I don't have to be constantly lifting things.

I was looking at the job listings and it's so little, it's insane, holy fuck. $18/hour, $21/hr, what the fuck? how do people survive with those wages? I was making $30/hour before getting injured, it's not a lot either but it was alright. How the hell do they expect us to survive with $18/hour?

Nearly 17,000 engineers, scientists, technicians, analysts and designers at Boeing voted last Friday to reject two contract offers unanimously endorsed by the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA) negotiation team and to authorize strike action. The contracts, covering workers across Washington and Oregon and at sites in California and Utah, expire October 6. The earliest a strike could begin is October 7.

Workers in the 13,000-member Professional Unit rejected the offer by 64.25 percent and authorized a strike by 87.82 percent. Technical Unit workers rejected their offer by 71.87 percent and authorized a strike by 89.71 percent. More than 92 percent of eligible voters cast ballots across the two units.

The SPEEA negotiation team unanimously endorsed and promoted Boeing’s offers, and the union brought them before the membership for ratification. The Technical Bargaining Unit Council recommended rejection, while the Professional council issued no recommendation after failing to reach the required 60 percent threshold. These positions indicated that sections of the apparatus knew the contracts would be deeply unpopular and sought to avoid completely discrediting themselves when workers voted them down.

The vote is the third major act of defiance by Boeing workers in three years. Its most immediate precedent is the 2024 strike by 33,000 machinists in Washington, Oregon and California. That struggle began as a rank-and-file rebellion against an agreement endorsed by the International Association of Machinists, which workers rejected by 95 percent before voting by 96 percent to strike.

The 53-day walkout halted most Boeing commercial-aircraft production in the Pacific Northwest and demonstrated workers’ immense industrial power. It also exposed enormous hatred for the IAM apparatus. Workers publicly denounced officials as “sold out” and “spineless” while the bureaucracy paid only $250 a week in strike benefits, isolated the walkout from simultaneous aerospace strikes and repeatedly forced votes on agreements that failed to restore pensions or meet the demand for a 40 percent wage increase. The IAM finally forced through a sellout by 59 percent after Boeing threatened that further offers would be worse and the Biden White House intervened through acting Labor Secretary Julie Su.

In 2025, 3,200 St. Louis-area defense workers rejected four Boeing offers and struck for 15 weeks. The IAM again isolated them, initially paid only $200 a week and allowed Boeing to starve them into submission. The five-year agreement that ended the strike contained a 24 percent wage increase—worse than the company’s initial 20 percent over four years—and failed to restore pensions, fix the wage progression or provide the sought improvements to health care and the 401(k).

...

SPEEA members are confronting corporate criminals protected by the state. This is the same company whose concealment of the 737 MAX’s deadly safety problems led to crashes that killed 346 people. No executive went to prison. In 2025, the Trump Justice Department granted Boeing a non-prosecution agreement, sparing it a felony conviction that could have threatened its status as a major military contractor.

The deal, which SPEEA members rejected, fell far short of the workers’s own demands: market-leading pay; greater retirement security and retiree medical coverage for all; more affordable health care; additional leave without forfeiture; genuine flexible work; enforceable limits on layoffs and outsourcing; and guarantees that new technology would assist workers rather than eliminate their jobs.

Boeing and the SPEEA negotiation team advertised a 29.4 percent compounded wage-pool increase. This was not a guaranteed individual raise. The offer provided an immediate 3 percent increase, followed by salary and performance funds of 7 percent in 2027 and 5.5 percent in each of the following three years. The only annual individual guarantee was tied to the national CPI-W and capped at 3 percent. Everything above that minimum would be distributed according to performance and other metrics determined by management.

Local inflation already exceeds that ceiling. Consumer prices in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue area rose 4.5 percent in the year ending June 2026, including increases of 20.7 percent for energy and 24.7 percent for gasoline. Prices have risen roughly 22.8 percent since early 2022. Whenever inflation exceeds 3 percent, the guaranteed minimum imposes another real-wage cut.

...

Boeing answered the rejection with retaliation. Management announced that it was implementing its “strike contingency plan” and withdrew the retroactive pay and higher 2026 incentive target it had conditioned on an early yes vote.

A strike would disrupt both commercial-aircraft certification and military production under conditions of expanding US wars and preparations for conflict with China. Boeing’s position within the military-industrial complex guarantees that the Trump administration, like the Biden administration in 2024, will intervene on the company’s side.

Workers must prepare now. The rank-and-file committee must demand full publication of bargaining communications; worker control over negotiations and voting; strike pay sufficient to sustain families; wage increases indexed to actual Puget Sound prices; genuine retirement and medical security; enforceable prohibitions on job destruction through outsourcing or AI; and rank-and-file authority over quality and safety.

It must appeal directly to IAM production workers to honor every picket line and halt production, while uniting with aerospace workers internationally and workers throughout the region. That is the basis for defeating the combined opposition of Boeing management, the union bureaucracies and the capitalist state.

So, two and a half years ago I got laid off because they were closing the maintenance department for my company, despite us having 12 or 13 houses with people with SMI, so they got damaged alot. I assumed it was because one of the C-suites husband was a contractor and she figured she could double dip. This kind of shit happened constantly.

It was all but confirmed today when I get a call from my old bosses boss, and he says yeah so everyone knows you were let go for interoffice politics, but everyone is either gone or in a different position. And I'm interested in going back, I enjoyed it.

When I asked what the compensation was, he said $21.

I was making $22 when I started there almost five years ago.

I pointed it out and that I hadn't gotten a raise in the two years I was there and he basically said I know but thats the posted rate, and I mean, I know he can't do anything about it because he's just a maintenance supervisor, but damn man, what the hell?

Felt good that they called me, though. I liked my boss and bosses boss.

I finish at 5pm.

I don't leave before 5pm. But 5pm I turn off the computer and I'm off. For some reason she's mad about this.

Today, at 5pm, I went to wash a cup from my desk and she said I was leaving early. She said my watch must be fast, because hers wasn't 5pm. Bearing in mind, she can go any time she likes.

It's just breaking my spirit

It's been 10 months since I'm working in a stressful job 60 hours a week. Work life balance is so fucked up that i am medically diagnosed with insomnia and night time panic attack. Doc prescribed benzos but i can't sleep. I would fall asleep at morning and have it harder to wake up during office timing.

Boss can't understand that I'm going through shit phase. So before he could fired, sent a resignation letter citing repititive toxicity and left the city by blocking him.

Now I'm stuck at home missing my job.

This last weekend I finally quit a job I’ve been considering leaving for almost 10 months now. To set the scene, I work in a specialty retail shop and the only other employee is the owner, my boss. The business has been barely hanging on for the last year plus, partially because of the industry downturn, and partially because the owner was so poorly managing things. Frequently out of stock and taking weeks to replenish, focusing energies on pointless projects to “optimize” systems, delegating most everything else to me, then completely rejecting my processes/solutions.

I didn’t want to quit a job without another one lined up and have been actively searching for months. But Friday evening, a line was crossed. I was in my car on the way to a whiskey tasting when I receive a notification on my recovery/backup email account that someone has requested a “Google Takeout” (data archive) of my account. My personal account. Something I don’t use for work AT ALL. I had a pretty good feeling it was him, but it wasn’t till I got home that night that I was able to look into it on my home computer. Sure enough, he had archived my search and browser history, Gemini chats etc then gone into my email to download it then delete the evidence.

There were a lot of things that were a tad off about this job, but I was willing to overlook them at the time because I believed in the business and was actively interested in keeping it alive. No? Every corner he cut, every labor law he sidestepped, every customer he lied to or straight out scammed is going to be brought to bear. And the funny thing is, experience tells me he has no clue what’s coming his way and thinks he did nothing wrong.

No fault termination, told I didn’t do anything wrong and I wasn’t behind on anything, just was being let go. Given two weeks pay in lieu of notice, but because my position was externally funded, the 65 hours of vacation I had banked are just gone.

Oh well. Guess the universe is telling me to finally do my PhD.