Rant

Are we being ghosted on internal promos/backfills?

0x1cd8…e6e5

·12d ago·2 comments

Been at Masco for a few years and usually, our team is pretty transparent about the hiring pipeline. Lately, we've had two senior roles go vacant, and HR has gone completely radio silent on backfilling them. When asked, leadership just drops the standard 're-evaluating priorities' line and pivots to something else. It feels like a soft freeze that they aren't willing to admit to publicly. I’m starting to worry that these roles are never coming back and the workload is just going to be dumped on us indefinitely until attrition takes care of the rest of the headcount. Does anyone in corporate have a better pulse on the Q4 outlook? It feels like we're just waiting for the other shoe to drop at this point.

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Comments (2)

0x532e…653d

·12d ago

That is the classic Masco playbook. They love to dangle the 're-evaluating priorities' line whenever a hiring freeze is actually in motion but they want to avoid a morale nosedive. Once they stop talking about a backfill, you can safely assume it’s off the table for the fiscal year. Expect the work to be absorbed by whoever is left standing, with zero adjustment to your compensation or resources. Start tracking what extra responsibilities you take on, because you'll need that data if you want to negotiate later, though they’ll likely just deflect.

0x7f73…4468

·12d ago

I went through this exact same situation with my department last year. The silence from HR is definitely intentional. They prefer letting people burn out slowly rather than dealing with the pushback that comes from announcing a formal hiring freeze. If leadership is pivoting to 'new priorities' instead of answering questions about headcount, it’s a massive red flag that your team is being downsized through attrition. Keep your LinkedIn updated and maybe start testing the market, because this is rarely just a temporary pause.