#motivation

You're not doing yourself any favors for doing more at this place.

It is impossible to care about work that has an end date in the immediate future. The motivation to your best, to train others or to spend time considering better ways to perform has been destroyed.

How is everyone with an end date handling this? Wrong answers only.

I know that would personally make me feel much better about my Phase 2 colleagues being excused from RTO, while the rest of us are required to be in the office doing the same exact job. Maybe some motivational posters? The kitten dangling from a tree branch that says “hang in there”?

I can't think of a single thing. Take away the paycheck and the fear of being laid off, and there's nothing left. Why invest effort in a job that could vanish tomorrow, no matter how hard you work? Promotions are a thing of the past. No rewards for anything. Just constant threats hanging over your head.

Is a reduction of workforce at Nike a bad thing? Revenue growth will come from productivity growth. More efficient teams. Motivated teams. AI. A reduction is not a bad if done right. And, to what I can see, 90% of the time, the right choices are being made.

I concern is not the Layoffs but the manner in which they were done. The percentage was not uniform across teams. Some teams had only 15% while some teams ( Not On-Prem)) had close to 45%. No one knows how people were selected. We have seen some good performers being shown the door. Many new hires shown the door. Entire team let go. This is just madness. People had quit stable well paying jobs and joined Oracle and they were let go before they had the opportunity to prove their worth. It’s not that the Big O is in losses that they had to resort to such cuts. There would be no motivation left among the existing employees to perform well when they see such things happen.

Tom Petty's Won't Back Down came across the radio today. If you need a small pick up for your weekend, take a listen. Anyone else listening to music that provides some inspiration? Binge suggestions? For many, it's a long weekend. If you can take a mental break from all of this do it.

Maybe then they wouldn't need to spend so much energy controlling us. Old concept, I know. But today's corporations seem to have forgotten it completely.

Nothing ki-ls motivation faster than knowing your every move is being scrutinized. I'm spending more time documenting what I'm doing than actually doing it. I've noticed that many folks have started checking boxes instead of solving problems which ensures few things actually get done. What's with the sudden pivot to micromanaging? Or is this my area only?

Ynon goes hard on Mondays. Good luck to all

Inspirational stuff from the 2026 Proxy Statement. Bill’s total compensation jumped from $22M to over $29M (32%) this year. Meanwhile, in the cubicles, we’re out here debating if our 1.5% merit raise covers the gas for the new 5-day RTO mandate. Truly a masterclass in 'Leading the Way.' Thanks for the motivation, Bill!

https://pex.broadridge.com/getdocument.asp?doc=4CC6BB74616CC807E06317289D0A6255&type=edgar#3547022_1074842_1074924

We have people here that any competitor would love to have, and we do nothing to keep them. Junior staff get demotivated and check out. Experienced veterans with institutional knowledge get shown the door. What's the endgame here? Feels like nobody's looking past the next Q earnings call.

This is not a post about AI. I barely do any feature work anymore. I feel like with everything happening in the US and the global situation, I just have zero motivation to work or produce work for these companies. Just waiting to see how long I can keep this going, wondering how many are on the same boat.

With everything going on it's hard to take anything seriously anymore. And knowing that my company is trying everything they can to replace me with either AI or someone offshore doesn't make me interested in helping them fulfill their profit goals.

At the same time, I don't want to lose my job in this economy either. But how do you stay motivated like this?

It turns people who once cared about their work into people who just watch the clock

Expecting nothing better than to be replaced is a great motivating force. Being made to train your replacement adds a special flair to feeling fantastic about losing your job.

Store managers, District Leaders, and Regional Directors, please remember this:

When a dedicated, loyal, hardworking employee gets the same "3" rating (and same cr-ppy raise) as a slacker employee who skates by doing bare minimum nothing, all motivation for hard work is lost when said dedicated employee realizes that hard work is no longer rewarded. STOP lumping everyone together as average and start viewing everyone individually. Every team has those people who go above and beyond and do more than others. They deserve to be rated 4 or 5, not cut down to 3 because everything needs to "balance out". Fight for your people, because that's what a good leader does.

Downvote for no.
Upvote for yes.

I know I’m going down the conspiracy rabbit hole here, but just for conversation what if Oracle started the rumors of the layoffs? Oracle knows they must get employees motivated again, and it’s against their nature to do so with rewards, but creating fear is right up their alley. The thought being that employees will put up with a lot more if they’re afraid they’re getting laid off. Suddenly, their performance may matter so they work harder. It seems a little far-fetched, but an interesting theory of ponder.

Got my compensation letter today. I didn't expect anything great, but a 2% increase is disappointing; it doesn't even cover inflation. And the bonus has dropped so much from previous years, it gives you no motivation to go out of your way and 'exceed expectations' anymore. It seems like it doesn't really matter, since you're at the company's mercy and whatever they decide to give your department.

Definitely looking for a new job, outside the business. In the meantime, just doing my job exactly as specified, no more, no less. Not going out of my way anymore, thats for sure...

A colleague of mine was fired yesterday. 6 months to retirement, but they fired him paying a severance package.
How does this make sense?

He was let go by a new manager appointed recently (6 promotions in 5 years - yeah, its possible) who doesn’t even know what my colleague does and how complex&important is his work.
No replacement, no time for handover.

And we got motivational speeches from a new manager.
I can’t believe its happenning, feels like being inside of ‘The Office’ sitcom, only its not funny.

I am anticipating my time to relocate (not sure where) might come anytime. My product has a lifecycle of a few years, but many of team members have relocated and many experienced leaders retired due to age and RTO. My motivation to work is low and minimal human interaction is gutting me.

Should I relocate and hope to switch projects? My spouse is under stressful situations at work too with tons of work and wants to quit if I relocate or become stable somewhere.

I am unable to find work outside T due to various factors (skill gap, unfair RTO demands)

If I relocate,,we will take a major financial hit. What to do? Leap of faith of faith RTO or should I quit?

Sending good vibes to those affected this week. Some of you had long careers at Juniper and did exceptional work in areas of consolidation. Others of you were also great contributors who just happened to be aligned with people no longer in power now that it's HPE.

And yet, we know that loyalty is rewarded with a layoff sooner or later. I saw some truly great people let go, and I have zero motivation left. What’s the point?

With the ongoing game of moving the goal posts every year to deny nearly everyone who earned an exceeds rating from ever getting one, in the spirit of the Olympics, I say “Go for the Bronze “ in 2026 - there is simply no incentive to do more and if they really want to RIF you, that will likely happen regardless of your performance. In the end you will at least have prioritized your life balance and not fallen for yet another false promise.

Best exec team to turn us into next Sun Microsystems

Serious question. How are fellow employees staying motivated after low to zero expected rewards?

I spent most of my career going all in, staying late, fixing things no one asked me to fix. Lately I’m realizing the extra effort rarely changes outcomes or benefits me all that much, it just burns me out faster. I’m trying to do what’s required, not everything possible, and reminding myself work doesn’t deserve all my energy. In other words, I'm trying to give back exactly as much as I'm getting.

Used to grind: stay late, extra projects, crush it. Reward? Emoji thumbs-up, 2% raise (lol inflation), then piled with more work.
Meanwhile minimum-effort crew dips at 5 and skates by fine.
Loyalty’s a one-way scam; hard work = free labor.
Fu-k going above and beyond. Act your wage, do the bare minimum, guard your sanity.
Who else quit hustling and started coasting?

I'm in pure "collect the paycheck" mode now. Minimal effort, zero overtime. The last year and a half have been a masterclass in how dedication is rewarded here. It isn't. My only remaining goal is to get a decent severance and never look back.

Morale ..
Satisfaction ..
Motivation ..
Stock price ..

Stock down to 28. U-k!
We have no mega paid people that actually provide leadership.
No motivation, no nothing.
What a terrible start to 26/

Hope this helps.

“ We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Don’t let an email take away your never ending hope and promise for a greater tomorrow!

Look, I'm over fifty and I've seen the cycles here. You bust your gut for years, hit your targets, and then watch rounds of layoffs target the highest pay brackets anyway. It really makes you question why you should pour extra energy into a place that seems to value your cost over your contribution. Frankly, most of us at this stage are protecting our energy and just meeting expectations while we plan. It’s hard to stay motivated with that hanging over you.

May the odds be ever in your favor!

It’s funny how uncertainty flips a switch. Suddenly my resume’s polished, alerts are on, and I’m paying attention again, looking for any opportunity to leave. Not exactly the motivation I wanted, but I’ll take it.

That might work for a short while, but over time it becomes completely mind-numbing and demotivating. It starts to feel like taking pride in your work is somehow shameful. Since we spend basically half our lives at work, is it really too much to ask that it actually means something?

It feels like the whole enterprise is designed to make you dislike your job and prevent you from ever progressing or accomplishing anything of substance. And I mean real substance, not a promotion or a raise. It seems like corporate leadership doesn’t actually want people to perform well, just to stay within narrow boxes defined by shallow metrics. Limited thinking, stuck in numbers and charts.

Can we just work harder?

We now know that nothing matters, so why do anything?

Everything has been mismanaged so badly over the past couple of years that it would take some kind of radical jumpstart, driven by an exceptionally creative and courageous group of people, to propel us upward. And we all know that isn’t going to happen. I survived all the layoffs only to watch a steady decline and neglect of everything that actually matters - how people are treated, retention of talent, development of ideas, attention to creativity and detail, and motivation built on real stakes. Sure, the business may limp along, maybe even grow sales from time to time, but we’ve turned into a run-of-the-mill corporation peddling products. At some point, the question of why we even exist will answer itself.

Deep cuts need to happen in tech even though that won’t fix sales.
The problem is that any survivors will have no motivation to work if the same tech leadership is in place. AC, ES (all vp down to sr managers and in some cases managers. None of them talk to each other and no root cause tech issues are ever fixed.
Truly weak leaders that micro manage or are completely checked out and no, a manager 101 course will not fix that.