Thread regarding American Electric Power Co. Inc. layoffs

AEP now sits at a 3.1 Star rating on GlassDoor and Bill has a 35% approval rating. Ouch. That's going to deter talented folks from applying, which will further amplify the growing problems here. For those not familiar with GlassDoor, a 3.1 star rating means, 'Stay the he-l away from this place'. For example, a few months back, a recruiter wanted to setup an interview with myself and NiSource, I was excited about the opportunity until I looked them up on GlassDoor and found they had a 3.3 Star rating. Needless to say, I swiftly declined the offer. This will take a long time to repair if it can ever be fixed.

No doubt most people are going to have a negative impact on their work balance. Bill doesn't care, he has pretty much said so because he has no life beyond being a CEO That said, everyone below him are going to tow the line he is pushing so get use to it, there is no VP and above that's going to stick their neck out because they know they can be replaced. You have 2 options, stay or leave, that's pretty much it. When the benefits of leaving outweighs the benefits of staying, get out, no one is going to think less of you at work because we're all thinking the same thing. The only difference is the when each of us will reach that point of no return. I'm at that point, I like my coworkers but I'm not staying just to suffer because someone else is suffering as well. I wish everyone well and good luck in your job search if you decide to leave.

@1yak+1qB6FXi3 Right, you don’t want to put the work in to negotiate your working terms. Would rather have corporate dictate it to you and ho-hum while finding other work (or stay because that’s ‘easier’ for you). That’s fine, just say you don’t want to work for it.

For the person asking about after school care. It worked out for us that my husband is on the opposite hybrid schedule that I am, so it worked for us to not have to get care. Now it will not. I know everyone has all very specific situations to them.

I completely understand the previous poster about increased costs and childcare - I'm going from remote to fully in office and our child was an infant the last time I was in office full time. Our child is in a private school for special needs which doesnt provide transportation so remote gives me flexibility to do daily drop off and pickup. My spouse is stay at home parent, however they can't drive due to a condition so if we do before and after care at school to accommodate my schedule, it'll be an additional $600 a month. And considering my "internal customers" that Bill wants us to interact with in person are across all of the opcos, I'll be on teams calls in the office chained to my desk. To me, the smart thing would be to keep a "hybrid" model that could look different for everyone depending on their need in order to accomonodate work/life balance.

For those talking about school after care costs, I’m curious - were you fully remote before? I’ve been hybrid, and I’ve always just enrolled in full time after care for my school aged kids. I don’t see how going from hybrid to full time office is a big change because you typically have to enroll in those programs for the full week. But if you are moving from remote to full time office, that’s a different story. That’s not to say that RTO isn’t awful. It is. Which is probably why “our culture” in the employee handbook has been replaced with “our core principles.”

Friendly reminder that RTO doesn’t apply to everyone. There’s a certain VP in our team that doesn’t have to come back in 5 days cuz she lives in Cleveland. Really bad look

They want you to feel like you are under a microscope while on the clock. I heard in Tulsa they are replacing the cubicles with those horrible ones that only have 3 sides and half the walls are see-through.

That email really stung. Bad timing. Just got on the afterschool childcare list for next school year for two elementary aged kids. After all current bills, our household typically clears around $2,000 in savings a month.

We went down to one car during COVID. After adding a new car payment which will at best be around $500 monthly and two kids in after school childcare which will be roughly $730 monthly, that now leaves us with somewhere around $700 left. This is before gas and other miscellaneous expenses. My taxes are also going up as an office employee.

I feel like I have no choice but to quit or find a new job. We can’t cut it this close monthly. I quite literally can’t afford 5 days in office. Does the company even care? I’d save more money working part time.

When prospective employees hear workers solely focus on how many decades, years or months they have until they can retire, that is the glaring indicator that they are better off seeking employment elsewhere.

Last email by EVP/HR Sounds like a load of bull with no flexibility. Heard our offices we get to supposedly choose are being denied, if it aint a main office and we have to "work with the limited space they have." Thanks again Bill and Executives for being "flexible". I am definitely out of here soon

Form a union? How about I just quit and work from home for a smarter/better company? Lots of engineering jobs out there my New Albany brothers and sisters. Senior management is going to have to learn the hard way.

"Just form a union bro" is even less helpful than the HR email.

You guys realize that you could form a union for all workers to negotiate your own terms? Stop being so passive like the company has been toward shareholders. It’s embarrassing.

“Pair employees with someone familiar with the facility to help them settle in.” “Come in a couple days a week to get used to coming to the office.” “Communicate with your team about your expectations…” Etc.

None of this was helpful, nor will it help with the transition back to the office. It feels like HR is rubbing our faces in this and talking to us like this is the first day of school. Like we’re children.

No one wants to hear anything else from HR about this. If there’s useful and actionable information, I’d much rather it come from my direct leader or the operating company. I find it hard to believe someone at the ivory tower thought this message was helpful.

They are not going to improve sentiment or rally the troops around this decision through over-communication. It’s like getting check-in information about your first day in prison.

“Building buddy.” Good Lord.

Gee I wonder what could be done to minimize the damage of people leaving… the concerned executives need to grow a pair and fight for us.

It's strategic vagueness. They can walk back the "flexibility" later on while also saying they never made any concrete promises.
I've heard it straight from executive leadership that they are worried about losing people due to RTO. They know people are going to leave over this, the question is how many and what can be done to minimize the damage. Painting these vague pictures about how it isn't going to be so bad is part of the strategy to minimize the damage. They just want to get you back on the plantation and get past that June 1st milestone.

Let corporate leadership wear an AEP logoed shirt out in public with CORPORATE EXECUTIVE embroidered underneath the AEP logo and they shall not be long for this world. Customers are just as done with increasing shareholder value as are employees when you spend $300.00 at the grocery store and have no meat, no beer or wine, fresh vegetables or eggs in the shopping cart. Eating a packed lunch everyday because fast food is nearly $20 without the drink and fries. Corporate had better come to their senses before they have a French Revolution on their hands. Remember the American Revolution inspired the French Revolution.

A whole bunch of non answers in the RTO email/FAQ just sent out. Getting tired of hearing that they’ll be flexible but not expanding on that. Guess it depends on how strict your manager is

The main thing I took away from the employee handbook update is that they deleted the "job designation" section. Job designation was whether you were on-site, field, hybrid, or remote. It seems strange that they deleted this entirely since some employees are being allowed to stay remote. Maybe their remote concession is only temporary?
And to the other poster asking if they are aware about how this will negatively impact your life, yes, they are very aware of everything you wrote. They simply do not care.
For all their language about how much they care about employees and how this is going to create "opportunity" (for whom?) always remember actions speak louder than words. They say they care about you while simultaneously doing things that worsen your life.

Anyone notice in the employee handbook that the S&H goal is "we care" that employees go home in the same condition that they arrived ti work (paraphrasing except fir the we care part). Been with company over 15 years and goal have always been taught that goal is that employees go home in the same or better condition that they arrived (wording may flex a little over time). Seems like leadership are softening with language- if goal is only that we care about it rather than doing it then feels like they really don't care....just my personal take

You know that's what I thought! It's easy for them to decide let's get everyone back and make "AEP Great Again". Did they ever stop and think how much more we are going to spend on time and money! Gas, finding a plce close to an office traffic filled hazards, time away from loved ones we watched while working from home, getting the little kids into somewhere during summer time when they are off school, car maintenance, or moving costs by June?!. Also the potential hazards of traveling on the highway each day in traffic. If something happens to one of us like a monring wreck, do they care? Seems unlikely since we're not even getting compensation. The executives are just looking how to bring AEP more money

Has anyone driven downtown lately, the 315, 70/71 interchanges are a mess. If Bill was human, he would delay the RTO until the construction is done. You really want to pi-s someone off, make the sit in a backup for an extra hour in the morning, be late for work, have to get 8 hours in and then get stuck in another backup going home. God forbid you end up in and an accident and ki-led but yeah, let's do it for learning new things from coworkers. The only thing to learn is how to put together a good resume.

Another one of the Minnesota Mafia is gone, wonder how long before they all fly the coop? Just another step down the staircase of discrepancy for the company. Real Corporate Culture has been pretty much gone since 2019, just people playing along to hit the ICP mark needed for it, just sad. This place used to be a great place to work, now it's just another job.

I totally buy that AEP would orchestrate positive reviews on glassdoor as they have seen their ratings decrease over the last couple of years. Slightly at first, then a regular nose dive with current reviews. Just like they encouraged positive survey results from employees so we had "amazing company" Gallup scores. It was always subtle, but always there. One tactic employed ..after each survey one non 4 or 5 score had to become a "culture" project for your team. Riiight .. we say the company isn't transparent, and we as a team need to find a way to solve that. So of course people said the survey is worthless, the company isn't going to do anything and I have too much work to do to get su-ked into a worthless project...so vote all 5s. When the scores starting really tanking.. bo-m..new survey company. If you have left or are at the company, go post an honest review on glassdoor. There are more of us with negative experiences than any lacky can spend time generating 5 star reviews.

Anyone know if there been has further discussion since Bill mentioned experienced employees potentially having more flexibility in the last video?

I will put in an immediate resignation on May 30 if there is no change. Understand leadership wants to run the company the way they see fit, but at this point in my life I’m not going to design my life around going to the office anymore. I have never really enjoyed the office and remote work was a godsend for me and my family. Hoping for a reprieve but I have no issue walking if it comes to that.

There is a lot of good within AEP. Many remain solely because they love their directors/managers.

Have you ever been lied to by a manager or director at AEP? Ethics has been gone for awhile. The organization is filled with leaders who will lie and take advantage of people for there self gain. I would not trust anyone. Thst is one of the first problems to fix.

You do realize it’s not just about immediately filling roles, right? Would anyone be foolish enough to lie to candidates just to have them quit a week later? There’s no real incentive to deceive, as it would only lead to refilling the position again. While there is motivation to present things in a positive light, I don’t see HR outright making up lies just to fill roles.

AEP is a sh-t show. Very thankful that I got out last week.

The incentive isn’t because they love and want to defend Bill or AEP. They just need good candidates to fill the vacancies within the company and Glassdoor is actively hurting their ability to attract talent. It’s that simple. This is not a rumor. Ask your buddies in HR. They’ll tell you, just like they blab about everything else.

AEP has an awful company and CEO score, and the reviews are even worse. Combine that with every review mentioning RTO and there’s a huge TA issue.

How do you know if you are working for a narcistic leader? There are signs. Narcistic leaders have to be the center of attention. Always on video, center page talking about themselves and their accimplishments. The belittle or putdown their subordinates. They exploit or take advantage of others by using charm. They think the company only exists to fulfill thrre needs. Have little remorse towards others and cannot reflect on their behaviors towards the workers the took advantage of. Does this sound familar to anyone at AEP.

Do you really think that TA team members would write fraudulent reviews, though? They are not executives. You are forgetting that they are just ordinary employees like everyone else. This forum took a simple rumor and somehow turned it into an accusation against an entire department of mostly ICs... I doubt any of them will write anything that they don't genuinely believe. There is no incentive to write false narratives... No one wants to fill the same job over and over again by misconstruing anything to candidates

The submission of fraudulent reviews on Glassdoor compromises the integrity of Glassdoor, negatively impacts its ability to recruit qualified candidates and diminishes the trust of job seekers in Glassdoor. The problem is leadership and positive reviews are not going to solve the problem.

Can you imagine having to go lie on glassdoor? Why would you do that. There is obviously a major issue within the company and most the employees are turning to those boards to be heard. AEP really needs to look at leadership roles in the company. Who is in them and how did they get there. I think you would be very surprised to find out.

Just a few left.

Brenner gone too. All of Therace’s lieutenants are heading for the door now.

Talent Acq. knows about Glassdoor and is running a quiet campaign to improve the scores and flood the site with better reviews.

Wish I were making that up. Unbelievably sordid stuff.

@1xwh+1qB6FXi3 please don't embarrass Harry Potter fans by comparing us to him lol.

The pay was good for Hybrid/remote but in my area rent is ridiculous. Pretty much AEP is now like any other employer. I'm getting ready to get out especially when others are offering what I need. Higher pay and more time with family! Sorry AEP but when you let the executives and a new CEO decide your hard working employees' fate we see what's more important to you instead of listening to us