Salary

Anyone else's performance review feel weird this year?

0x2e8f…59bc

·5d ago·2 comments

Just finished my year-end review, and the goalposts for 'exceeding expectations' were moved so far that it felt like an intentional setup to suppress bonus payouts. Usually, there’s a bit of room to negotiate or at least get a clear explanation, but my manager looked like they were reading from a script provided by HR. They kept circling back to 'macroeconomic pressures' and 'realigning resources,' even though I’m hitting every KPI we set back in January. It feels like they’re trying to build a paper trail to justify low scores across the board, probably to make future staff reductions easier if they decide to cut by performance. Has anyone else felt like their ratings were suppressed despite having a solid year? Trying to figure out if this is isolated to my division or if it’s a company-wide push to tighten the belt before earnings.

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Comments (2)

0x22d3…b86a

·5d ago

Same boat here. It’s definitely a company-wide initiative to tighten the belt. I had the exact same experience with the scripted responses—my manager couldn't even look me in the eye while reciting the 'macroeconomic pressure' lines. It’s incredibly demoralizing when you hit every single one of your KPIs only to be told it doesn't translate into the bonus bracket you earned. They are clearly prioritizing the bottom line over employee retention at this point. Start tracking all your wins now because it’s going to be an uphill battle during the next cycle as well.

0x3ef5…7b77

·5d ago

That sounds about right for the current culture. I’ve noticed the leadership shift over the last few months, and it’s all about protecting margins at the expense of the staff. When they start moving goalposts mid-year, it’s a massive red flag that they’re trying to avoid payouts. I’ve been through a few of these 'realignments' before, and the result is usually the same: management hides behind HR policies to avoid actual accountability. Don't take it personally—it's a calculated strategy to keep us on edge while they squeeze every bit of profit out of our output.