Feeling the tightening on expenses/travel?

Same here. It’s definitely not just you. I’ve had projects stalled because of these new T&E restrictions, and it’s honestly making it impossible to manage client relationships effectively. It feels like the higher-ups are prioritizing the optics of a lean balance sheet over actual operational output. When they start using buzzwords like 'efficiency initiatives,' we all know it’s just code for a budget freeze that makes our daily jobs twice as difficult. The morale hit is real when you're treated like a liability instead of an asset.

I’m seeing the exact same pattern in my department. It’s frustrating because we’re being pushed to maintain high levels of client engagement while simultaneously being blocked from the travel needed to actually execute on those commitments. Finance is clearly scrambling to hit specific margins before the next earnings call, but they’re going about it in a way that’s gutting our capacity to perform. If this continues, we're going to see a serious dip in productivity across the board, regardless of what the Q3 numbers look like.