Caterpillar reviews

Our recently departed CEO strategically enacted a 5-day in-office work policy a week or so before departure in the hopes of ameliorating a broad-based backlash against the new CEO. While I'm not familiar with anyone casting blame on the new CEO, the 5-day in-office standard is regressive, unnecessary, inefficient, has broad disapproval and is a poorly veiled effort to reduce headcount in general in an already somewhat disgruntled team ahead of what many perceive as an inevitable "streamlining" of personnel with the advent of AI. This new 5-day in-office policy is being used broadly by lower-level management as ammunition to deny promotions, limit career growth opportunities and increase control over individual contributors in general at a time when record year on record year should be reflected in the prosperity of everyone at this company when it simply has not. The last several years of investment in stock buybacks and dividend increases during record years at the expense of headcount and individual contributor compensation has resulted in reduced morale across various groups within CAT as a parent company. It's pretty clear to those in the know that this has shifted the compensation significantly in favor of senior and executive leaders at the expense of front-line employees at a time when execution is seeing plummeting feedback from customers and dealers.

Not much I can say negative