1. Your team will never be fully staffed, but you'll still be expected to do the work. One department I worked in was typically around 78-82% staffed due to the high turnover-- why did people leave? because of the workload vs salary. The solution would just be to hire the right amount of people. My kid understands this concept. FirstEnergy does not.
2. Bonuses drying up ($0 for this year despite huge earnings), they just changed the method to calculate a disbursement. Don't expect to ever receive a decent bonus again. The previous two years I did receive a bonus, they were below the mark-- somewhere around 80% of what was anticipated. I'd take 80% over 0%, but the new bonus structure is designed to screw the employees out of that money.
3. WFH disappearing, for no reason. If I could do my job for 4 years remotely, why can't I continue in 2025? Now I have to show up to the office 5x a week? No thanks. Plenty of us made life changes during our WFH eras that we are not willing to give up (kids, pets, etc). This is clearly an attempt to reduce headcount.
4. ALWAYS a raise below the industry average, unless you are a golden child - the ratings system is rigged, and no matter how good your employee is, someone above you will change their number if they don't like them (or vise-versa). If you're an incompetent but attractive woman, you're golden though, enjoy your 5% raises. Otherwise, you're getting 2-3% maximum, even as an outstanding employee. You'll get a half percent higher raise than your department's biggest slacker. Nice.
5. A lot of double-speak, saying one thing and then doing the complete opposite. They say "speak up" but either ignore your pleas for help or hold it against you later. If you report unethical behavior, but it makes the company money, you're going to get retaliated against. Ask me how I know.
6. The CEO comes from an investment company, Blackstone, who coincidentally owns 49.9% of FET. All Brian Tierney has done since taking charge has been trying to squeeze blood from a diamond. There is no more O&M to cut, we did that in 2019+. There is no more efficiency opportunity without spending money overhauling our terrible software and outdated methods. He will not invest in the future of the company, and is only concerned about the stock price. Basic maintenance practices are being deferred because you can write off capital expenses on taxes, but maintenance you cannot-- meaning, things are going to be run until they break, resulting in more outages and more danger to the public, all for a few cents more on the stock price.
