Thread regarding American Electric Power Co. Inc. layoffs

We are a big, bad Fortune 500 company. You should feel lucky to even be allowed in the building.

It is proven fact that T-Engineering will absolutely let talent walk out the door. You can spend most of the day on teams, helping others across the footprint. However you damn well better show up at the office for your three days a week to make those teams calls. Better make sure you scan that badge when you come in too. The bean counters are watching.
It is a shame what AEP has become. Not sure how the ship gets righted at this point.

I'm not sure what IT groups your talking about being top tier here at AEP lol. In the jobs we have had posted we've been lucky to get a warm body to apply let alone highly skilled. Our pay is out of line, our culture is toxic (even at a corp level now not just in IT) and we don't even allow candidates to interview with the people they are going to work with as a team. Who the he-l wants to come to a job never meeting anyone you are going to work with??? I'll tell you who, no one with a marketable skill set who cares about their work and their life in general. The hiring process is not transparent, you get gaslit for months (on average 9 mos for every job openings we have had) and you end up with whoever is the bottom of the barrel that applies.

What do you mean the "highly specialized nature of IT roles?"
This is not some occult knowledge, in India everyone and their mom is an IT expert.
Are you saying IT somehow requires a greater expertise than engineering? You realize you work at a company with a lot of engineers right? What do you even need to get started in IT, an associate's degree from the community college and experience connecting your mom's computer to the printer?

@1qjx+1qB6FXi3 That sounds great but it probably has more to do with CITO leadership all living in other states. I don't think they want IT going back into the office because that would mean they would need to move to Ohio. I wouldn't mind going back into the office, I enjoyed my co-workers. They were super smart and dedicated to delivering quality solutions. We weren't perfect but everyone was committed to keeping our customers happy.

IT remains remote because our talent strategy is focused on securing the best professionals, regardless of location. Given the highly specialized nature of IT roles, having a national and global reach allows us to attract top-tier talent that we might not have access to if we were limited to a single geographic area (Columbus). This approach also enables us to remain competitive in the industry while ensuring we have the right expertise to support the business effectively.

ICP closer to a 0.6- 0.70 then 0.88

Because the Witch of the West live in Columbus and has no desire to live anywhere near Ohio. She also outsourced most of IT to India. She would have done 95% of it given the chance but little things like Cook, NERC, FERC and FBI background checks stopped the bi--h in her tracks. She had to keep a good portion of it in the US. Her problem, she and her minions had no clue how to run an IT shop for a utility. The d-mb cu-t ran head first into Federal regulations that she couldn't skirt around with outsourcing. Lucky for her someone on the board like the le----n and kept her protected.

Ask me if I'm a bitter ex-employee, I'm not, I'm still here waiting for her a-s to leave and to take her minions with her. Since the fired a lot of my friends,, I'm sticking around just to do enough not to get fired but not enough to make the Indians look good.

Why does IT get to work remote still?
Even new hires, lots of job ads going up right now on the site for IT that are advertised as remote.

If he mentions phishing tests for the 79th time I’m gonna scream in the Q&A chat.

I log into them on one screen, ki-l the sound and minimize the window. Open my other apps and keep working on stuff that matters. I don't listen to the cr-p because it means nothing to me.
Our manager will give a recap at our next huddle and ask if there are any question . I'll get the recap from the team then.
Unless you're telling me I'm fired, nothing that comes up in these meetings mean zero to me. It would be funny if nobody showed up but the managers.
Just a waste of man hours imo.

Show me webcast that actually made a difference in everyone's day?

Sacrifice the CEO upon the altar greed and we shall all have a bountiful ICP. Crony capitalism loves human sacrifices. It might as well be them instead of us for a change. Remember our severed coworkers!

And each one is a copy of the last one and the last 5 ones. And can all be found on a boilerplate McKinsey report.

I've never worked anywhere in a long career with as many all-hands and leadership webcasts. It's like his press conference to stand before the minions and shake a stick at them - after being here for 5 months.

It's not most of their salary but it's a lot. The highest job grade (excluding CEO) has an 80% of base salary as their ICP target.

I don't think the employee call is going to be anything special, you all su-k, we need to do better.

Most of Bill and the execs yearly salary comes from ICP, doesn’t it?

There should be an ICP, i just doubt it'll be a good one. The one guy earlier in this thread said .88 so let's wait and see if he was right. My guess next year, either no ICP or a free turkey like in Christmas Vacation.

Any rumors about upcoming broadcasts on Thursday? Will there be any chance of an ICP?

You do a job for one of two reasons, a paycheck or because you love it. I know for a fact over the last 5 years more of us are moving from the I love what I do to I'm just here for the paycheck
Even Bill is only here for a paycheck so why should I change my attitude Bill?
As time goes on, more and more people will move into the paycheck side. Morale is not a concern for the company at this stage, the wheels have not come off but it may very soon. By the end of 2025, mid 2026, if things don't improve across the board, if would not surprise me to see a large group of older workers (boomers) leaves. They have the time, the money and the "take this job and shove it" attitude.

Bro our customers hate us. They think we are robbing them blind. And we probably are. Well at least some of us.

We are preparing for another winter storm. Please put Bill's chaos out of your minds and focus on the safety fundamentals that keep us all safe. Bill will never know the brotherhood and sisterhood that gives us the strength to endure and prevail over mother nature's fury. Bill is just another spoiled oligarch freeloading on our success. He has NO sweat equity in our company's legacy and never will. We shall still be here long after he is just a bad memory. We are "THE AEP" our customers trust to keep their families lights on.

Does anyone know how many stealth layoffs occurred last week? I heard a new org chart was released in IT that had people missing but there was no announcement or acknowledgement of it. This was likely the "layers and spans" re-org that the others groups have already gone through, but I didn't hear about layoffs when they flattened Planning, PM, Finance, etc.

Nobody is going to take AEP to court for a class action lawsuit. There is no injury to anyone. You may not like but like when your credit card company changes terms for the card, you have the right to cancel it. If you don't like the job requirements, leave. The part that su-ks is the fact that they would not let all 17k employees take the buy out. Forced layoff is one thing but not to treat everyone the same was the start of people just being pi---d off with the company. Throw in RTO and now you start to have the majority of the employees who just don't give a dam about what happens to the company. I'm here for a check, and that's it. Here's my plan

1. Set my bios on my PC to auto start at 7:55 am every morning.
2. Take a 30 minute lunch at my desk and play Games on my personal phone.
3. Set a scheduled task @ 4:25 pm to issue a popup to earn me to save my work.
4. @ 4:30 pm a second scheduled task to perform a forced power off.
5. Leave my desk by 4:31 pm.

The company wants me in the office for 40 hours a week, they'll get 40 hours.
That is going to be my MO for the next 4-5 years or until I find something else. Not sure if I can find anything based on my age but if I do, I'll leave. The best part, my boss feels the same way.

Bill needs to be made intimately familiar with the negative impact he has deliberately imposed on his employees and their families. There are any number of personal injury attorneys that would jump at the opportunity to persecute a class action lawsuit against a tyrant CEO, who treated his employees like lab rats in his mad capitalist business experiment. Bill must feel our pain personally, financially and professionally. Customers will eat it up, watching Bill squirm like a lobster being dropped into a cauldron of boiling water. The perfect revenge for their torment, anguish and misery before they show up for their lobster dinner.

Job grade 5 (engineering associate) pay band starts at $62,000.
When was that a competitive salary for an engineer? 2004?
At least when we had hybrid you could justify it because you were getting something else in return.

Fu-k Bill Fehrman and fu-k AEP for this. Its clear that the leadership at the top doesn't give two sh--s about the employees anymore.

AEP's engineering talent has already been gutted by mismanagement and the severances the past couple years. No one wants to work in office 5 days a week. How is AEP going to attract any talent when they have nothing to offer competitive employees anymore?

My local team had a job offer out to a new prospect. When the prospect heard the position was changing from hybrid to full time in office, they ghosted AEP. No one wants to work full time in office after seeing the flexibility of hybrid work, so AEP better get used to a lack of new applicants.

I'm sticking around for my ICP, and then I'm gone. Its time to start applying to other companies now. I should have left years ago during the Sloat era. I used to be proud to work for AEP, but leadership at the top is hellbent on destroying this company and its corporate culture.

I had a friend tell me that she was specifically told not to use the "Ask Bill" function because the EVP are not wanting us to because it causes them problems. So, you know it is bad when the CEO implements the "Ask Bill" because he wants to hear from workers. But then the workers are being told from upper management that they are not to use the "Ask Bill" function.

Working solely to enrich shareholders was defined as slavery in the previous century.

How many AEP employees are suffering from occupational exhaustion?
How many AEP employees are experiencing erratic sleep patterns?
How many AEP employees have experienced one or more panic attacks?
How many AEP employees have experienced a diminished quality of life since Bill arrived?
How many AEP employees only career goal is to retire or quit?
How many AEP employees are experiencing difficulties staying focused at work?
How has Bill's leadership negatively impacted safety?
What has Bill done to improve employees' experience after receiving storm restoration awards and other accolades?

What will be Bill's next great idea?
Renaming 1RP to The Fortress of Doom?

I don't think he'll do away with ICP, I think our new ICP targets will be near impossible to hit so they won't have to pay anything out... that way they can still boast ICP as part of our compensation package.....

It is time to impoverish the rich, not the working poor and any politician that opposes us loses any chance of re-election. It is time for the party of one people and one nation to defeat the two parties of tyranny.

More fired in technology over the last week. They’re trimming a few at a time now. Good thing this is the last ICP. Bloated management salaries already take the bulk of the bonus pool.

Any news on the ICP besides the one guy with the .88 number. To be honest, the .88 seems to be a good number based on how we did over 3 qrts. If it turns out to be lower, Q4 would have to have missed the projection. Based on rumors, this might be the last ICP. Bill doesn't like them but if you take it away, a really decent pay raise is in order. Otherwise, loss of knowledge will continue to seep out the door.
Again, short term profits replacing long term needs. Needs of the few outweigh the needs of the many.

How much more "input for the rate cases" do we need?
Our customers are already routinely complaining that their electric bill is higher than their mortgage payment. Do we believe that they just have infinite money and we can raise the rates forever?

The betrayal employees have experienced has destroyed the loyalty and commitment of the men and women, who save this company every time mother nature wreaks havoc and destruction on the infrastructure that enriches you. Our first responders are like steel they are strong but if you abuse the temper of their mettle that gives them the resilience to endure and overcome adversity, the steel becomes brittle and fails. Young employees have borne witness to this leadership betrayal and are seeing the impact it has on the men and women they look up to as their mentors and are deciding no one deserves to be treated so callously.

The C-suite shall reap the bitter harvest it has sown and you will never again enjoy the loyalty and resolute determination to succeed that has made you filthy rich and our first responders old, tired and indifferent. You have neither earned nor deserve the success you have enjoyed at the expense and to the detriment of your workforce and their families, who sacrifice so much for the success only you enjoy the benefits of. Your treachery shall be the instrument of your colossal failure of leadership. You own it.

Boots on ground can get the work done if the guys in the suits will just get the F out of the way.

Someone made a very good point re transmission being the money maker. PIS and capital spend are the inputs for the rate cases. That’s where the money comes from. AEP’s model for executing T projects has become so obstructed by internal “stakeholders” (they aren’t stakeholders they are supposed to be contributors) that a simple project takes four years to complete. Ridiculous. So there is the biggest demand since WW2 to upgrade and expand the grid and AEP has become so inefficient at executing capital work there is absolutely no way they can take advantage of that market. Where else can the money be made? The developers have figured it out. But AEP can’t.

There's no way to believe that they are surprised by the backlash. It was the only possible outcome. Of course everyone would react negatively to their lives being made worse. What other response could there be?
The only reason they are doing this RTO thing anyways is because they are trend-chasers, not leaders. They saw everyone else doing it and that was it.