Thread regarding American Electric Power Co. Inc. layoffs

It’s crazy to me that the company is letting people go and offering severance, meanwhile still making huge donations as well as being a sponsor to multiple pride rally’s. Shows how much they really care about their employees. Support whatever you want but come on. Employees rely on you for and you sell them out while spending tons of money on everything but keeping them. Talk about giving your employees the middle finger.

We could have a repeat of last October when they did the mass layoffs of the contractors but I would not expect to see that happening until September or October. It depends on how fast Therace burns through the budget.

It’s gonna get a whole lot worse before better, have a back up plan or be ready to be let go, the next rounds probably won’t offer a severance.

I have not heard anything about contractors being let go 2fkor+1qB6FXi3 however that doesn’t mean it won’t happen. I just haven’t heard anything about that. I honestly assumed they would do that before any severance would be offered but I was wrong.

TCS is a horrible third world company. Not just pay gaps and harassment but security breaches, stolen trade secrets and all of the lawsuits they have just in the US blows my mind. Someone HAS to be getting a kick back for integrating them and I think we all know who. You can almost count on a security breach just before or after TR leaves. Just look at the past companies she hooked.

anyone heard anything about contractors being laid off?

https://www.msn.com/en-in/money/news/tcs-faces-questions-on-harassment-pay-disparity/ar-BB1npgcB

Wonder if our woke-minded leaders (nothing wrong with that, if they stay true to it) will adhere to MeToo and equal rights or will this only further the narrative that TCS’s “value” is all that matters? I think we all know the answer.

https://www.livemint.com/companies/tcs-faces-questions-on-harassment-pay-disparity-11717172462708.html?utm_source=microsoft-mint

You're right, IT was not part of the 7400 eligible folks. Only because Therace in that sh.. for brain of her's sc--wed up IT they were forced to layoff folks in Jan and couldn't afford to lose anymore techs. Mainly because TCS is such a huge pile of sh.. when it comes to the technical side. My 12 year old had more knowledge of how to fix a PC than some of these guys. Spend 20 minutes on Teams with any of them and you'll see how bad they are. It takes an act of congress to get one on the phone and good luck understanding them. No wonder they default to Teams. User support is cr-p compared to what it was even 3 years ago and I've been here for about 10 and it has never been this bad. I keep a list of names to call directly but that list seems to be getting shorter all the time. God help us if nothing is done by the new CEO.

I am not sure why people think IT had a retirement option. That was never offered. If you were vocal enough to your management you might have stood a chance. But there was never any option. Too bad because many would have taken it and are not able.

Well said, everyone can put up with a certain amount of change in small doses at a time. The changes at AEP have been at all levels and not in small doses. People can handle changes but not in this amount. I've heard some folks are leaving, severance or no severance. If people are leaving without an incentive, means things are worse than what it looks like on the surface.
If you can leave, leave. If you have to stay, good luck, hope things get better. If mgmt changed for the worse, they can change for the better, just takes time.

I’ve never regretted my choice to leave any less than in this moment. If they offer a severance again I know a few wishing they would have taken it so they will be gone next time. Good luck to all. So glad to be done with this hypocritical, double standard, lying stuff… every company has its things yes. But it is insane here.

As a follow-up to the comment of "all of the people who pushed the button were approved," that may be true in the IT org, but not AEP wide. In the Energy Delivery Organization, more than 40 people have been declined.

Getting ready for the next round of goodbyes. Heard all of the people who pushed the button were approved. Was it enough? It may depend on the second quarter results which is scheduled for end of July. If not, I'll look forward to being let go and leave this sh.. show. If they want me to leave, I'll be happy to go, for a price. Otherwise, I'll sit back and watch Therace pack her bags and leave next May when her 5 years are up. If you think she'll stay longer, your smoking something now that it's legal in Ohio.

Thanks for the sympathy…but we’ll be fine. It’s obviously sad to see good co-workers leave under any circumstances, but there are still plenty of great people left and an important job to do.

I feel for those staying. Lot of lifers leaving the company and some hard workers who are tired of everything as well. Will be a rough few months if not years.

It will be interesting to see how fast AEP goes on a hiring binge in a year or two. People with the actual knowledge of the utilities business are not going to come back. So you hire someone with no knowledge but a lot of potential. Still doesn't mean the work gets done in a timely fashion or correct. I can see a lot of projects not making deadlines and having to be pushed back. New hires might want to work but doesn't mean it will translate into a finished project. If you think TCS can fill the gap, your lying to yourself. Sit in any meeting with them and ask for input, you get none. All brought to you by Therace and Sanjay.

Like more brain challenged people from TCS.

Finally, the cleanup has begun. I can't wait until we get some new people who actually do the work.

Prior post by another was correct, many office positions will be eliminated/ no longer needed soon, I’d expect another 750-1000 severed or terminated by years end, maybe sooner.

TCS vs AI, I'll take the AI bot any day. As for AI taking over the world, don't count on it. Humans have a way to adapt where other species would die out. On top of that, there's a power off switch on the server.

AI is taking over office jobs or any nonphysical labor positions. If you worked behind a computer remotely at home, AI gathered your numbers to determine if your job could be done by AI and therefore exterminated It was a trick and not the dream it seemed. After all money trumps people in big business. Sorry to see this happen.

If they would have allowed IT to take part in the Buyout, I know a number of people who would have pushed the button. The race cut IT to the bone so there is fat to cut

The sad part, if those 250 aren't selected this round you can bet Therace's honor and integrity that they are marked themselves with a Target (pun intended) for the next round of forced cuts the next time they need to maximize shareholder value.

Curious if they approve all 1k or reject 250 of them. Knowing how this company is operating of late, they'll reject 250 for some reason or another. Why lose sleep over it, they already told 60% of the company they couldn't take part in it. Just par for the course.

Heard today from a Director that they only wanted 750 people to take the buyout and they had well over a thousand people submit for it. I guess time will tell.

Spot on. Therace may have been a successful CIO in some other industry other than retail but not Utilities. She is trying to fit a square peg in a round hole and it's just not working. Her retail experience just does not port over to a utility. I've never met the woman and have no desire to meet her. I would have a hard time keeping my mouth shut. I honestly don't think she'll stay past next May. She just doesn't strike me as a person who is loyal to a company. She really strikes me being self serving and self centered.

AEP was a good company to work for. But in honesty, the hiring of Therace was a disaster. I've never seen an executive make sweeping decisions without understanding the landscape. That retail mindset will not work in a utility. In fact, it's quite dangerous because electric utilities are quasi national security firms. But the decisions she's made in IT made our electric grid unsafe and unreliable. Morale is low which could cause higher insider threat activity. If the Board was smart, they would do to Therace what they did to the CEO. They are two peas in a contaminated pod. The employees need to press the AEP Board of Directors to do the right thing concerning Therace. When i worked at AEP, it was a good place to work and grow. As I look back, I'm so glad I left before the morale hit rock bottom. Instead of AEP creating opportunities to buy a utility, it's in a prime place to be bought itself. That's not good for Ohio or our electric grid.

That's the retail mind set, everything is controlled at the corporate level with no input from the stores. She was able to act as a dictator both at a personnel and budget level at JCP and Target. Everyone else came in from retail as well and had no clue. I saw a few heads looking down on those conference calls. Not sure if they were crying or laughing. Either way, you're right, we were done for the day she accepted the job. The road to healing will begin the day she leaves

The real question is, does she understand the difference between capital and O&M in a regulated utility yet?
I’ll never forget the blank stares of disbelief when she had no clue what the he-l she was talking about and was trying to manipulate how our expenditures would be classified. That was the day I knew we were sc--wed.

I find it eye opening that 4 people are voting down the last few comments and it must be the same 4 voting up the comment supporting Therace. Must be her cronies. I have never spoken to a non-manager that had anything nice to say about her management style. Only from managers trying to play along and her direct cronies.

Ok Therace, stop voting down on the comments that are negative to your decisions. We all know, you're the troll on the thread.

You can tell so much about a person by the way they treat others and who they surround themselves with.
Therace treats people with distain as do the majority of the people who report to her. She has no redeeming quality, none.

"TR is the best thing ever happened to the company!". You have to be a troll here, and has to be written by someone that got their job on nepotism. Are you kidding me? Let me guess you have a Minnesota zip code?

This is EXACTLY the problem. You people came in without have any understanding of what AEP was before you got here. And you are arrogant enough to think "you are all the solution". AEP legacy people were here when you got here, and they will be here when your gone.

Just how long do you think you'll last once a new CEO gets here and is able to read between the lines? You think your safe?

Let's assume that a new CEO gets here and cleans house and TR goes. You seriously don't think that the next CIO won't do what she did and repopulate all of the key spots with their own people bouncing out everyone that anything to do with the present mess?

The only thing that AEP HR needs to be doing is brush up on unemployment law in Minnesota. Anyone that seriously looks around and thinks that IT at AEP is fine, is either a crack head or in denial.

Do you honestly think that TCS could save you from a massive outage or a ransomware attack? Please. Get a grip. Anyone that doesn't have their head in their @55 can see what's going on.

Look who is all preaching on favoritism and loyalty. Y'all have your own informal groups playing favorites at all levels and do everything in your power to oust anyone who does not look like you. Now it is a problem is TR does it? All you do is talk in meetings and have others do the work for you and you take credit for it. It's about time y'all pack rats hogging on bonuses that you do not deserve. TR is the best thing ever happened to the company!

That cannot come soon enough. Anyone with w non-bias review of the previous 4 years would have to declare her tenure here a total disaster. I cannot think of one thing that's she done that made things better.

Time for many like TR in leadership and management to be terminated

Amen, SurvivalMode

With pretty much any meeting, go wash dishes, play with the dog, take a walk, take a cr-p, they are all equal to hearing them speak.

You are correct. They never want to hear any opinion, but they are always first to offer up their own. Most good managers value the input of the people doing the work. Here, not so much.

It's amazing how much gall it takes to walk into a new job, know nothing about it, know nothing about the people you work with or the jobs they do and just start making arbitrary decisions without even a hint of thought as to what the impact of those decisions are, or what they will affect. This TR and cronie crew are masters of it.

Suggestion for the next All Hands Meeting, go on mute, stop listening to Therace because everything she has to say is BS. Take the hour break to clear your head and to get some fresh air. Get a fresh cup of coffee, sit back, get something truly important done in 45 mins. If I really need to know, put it in an email, I'll read it later. The other thing, no employee survey, no participation in company meetings. You don't want to hear my opinions, I'm good not listening to yours. Therace will be gone in a year, I'll still be here, maybe then I'll start listening again. Hope we get a better CIO, God knows we could use one.

It was the worse kept secret in IT, everyone knew Operations was been outsourced, only question was, how many and how fast. Everyone knew, after meetings with Sanjay and his reports, the question always came up, who would be left after the cuts. Granted didn't see Sanjay getting cut but I think he took one for Team TR. You will know it's true if a few years from now, TR moves on and Sanjay shows up again. That will tell you how crooked she is. Only time will tell. TR just went over 4, if true she is on a 5 year contract, she is now on the clock. Next will be interesting to see how everything plays out. New CEO, maybe someone who will see there are too many cooks in the kitchen and not enough waiters.
Was going to Chiefs but we already have enough Indians here.