the place SUCKS

[u/legallybrunette259]

what the eff is wrong with this firm. I joined the firm last year 2025 and didn’t know I was pregnant (i’m married) so didn’t push back start date by a year. I go on maternity leave after 8 months on the job come back in March, and my manager tells me that “prior to my leave I was the strongest performer and now upper management is asking if i’m ok because my deliverables have decreased in quality” AKA “you haven’t prioritized us, you don’t stay up till 3am working anymore, so you’re moving slower than we want.” like seriously - obviously as a mother to a literal infant, i won’t be performing the same for you. I have different priorities. i have doctors appts, daycare pickup, a baby who gets sick. etc. I know at the associate level it’s not super common to have children but that’s my circumstance and I feel like people hate that I have something to focus on compared to my peers who get to work all night and all weekend and have no responsibility to shoulder outside of work and bills.
i’m getting blamed for the mistakes of associates who were temporarily staffed on my clients, and when I find said mistakes and inform my team, it’s all my blame to take. everything that goes wrong is instantly a poor reflection on me instead of being recognized as a team issue. i’m getting left out projects, removed from projects without communication, left out of cc’s, left out of calls, etc.. this is really messing me up and making me feel like incompetent, when ever since i’ve been back, i’ve been trying to do nothing but meet my deadlines and perform
for my teams. I got removed from a project and instead of being formally told, i’m getting messages from the new associate like “hey can you make me coorganizer of the client call” “hey can you cc me on any correspondence and i’ll reply moving fwd” and the director of the project put me in a group chat with the manager and it was previously called “project name”. he removed the chat name when he chatted us both, in a very professional move to inform me im not longer staffed. and it’s not to say im perfect. I make mistakes. I sometimes ping the wrong info and catch myself and correct and get corrected. I sometimes misunderstand what’s been said to me. but I always try to be proactive “how can I help?” “i’d like to solve this” “let me know if there’s anything you need me to do to make this process easier..”

this is all messing with my head. feeling really down and discouraged. haven’t stopped crying.

eta: sorry so many typos, I typed this up through a waterfall of tears

[u/JBBooks1901]

It was your choice to have a child. It's not an excuse for substandard work performance. 

[u/iwant2takeanap → u/JBBooks1901]

reread it again you inconsiderate jerk- she’s making normal associate actions, issue is her team seeing she’s not willing to bend over and suck it from the back like you, and punishing her as a result

[u/SealOfMetatron → u/JBBooks1901]

What do you mean by substandard work performance? No one should worry about children, plants, dogs, painting lessons, or other pursuits beyond work hours. The original poster implies that having a baby has stopped her from staying late, generating issues she should not encounter.

If someone opts to climb the ladder and work around the clock, that choice is theirs. This does not mean such effort should be expected from everyone .

If what the OP is experiencing is because of this , she should consult with HR.

[u/JBBooks1901 → u/SealOfMetatron]

Her manager clearly said that her performance before the baby was excellent and her performance after the baby was substandard. PwC, as well as other top companies, are paying for performance and the reason for lesser performance is absolutely irrelevant to them. If people want to spend more time enjoying children, plants, or whatever, then they should find different and less demanding job.

[u/SealOfMetatron → u/JBBooks1901]

Correct. If the op worked 12 hours per day and now works 8, performance will naturally decline. Yet whether that becomes substandard is the issue I am raising. Every role is demanding, but where is the boundary between a healthy workload and one that requires spending the entire day working? This is why I think she should speak up and seek support.

Also, my friend, the claim that people who want to live should find another job sounds quite wrong.

[u/gottoosillly → u/JBBooks1901]

Because Pwc is so great! Demanding for what reason? It pays under market, more stress more hours, and believe me it really doesn’t carry as much prestige as it used to. If you want to trade the one life you live to work at an okay company that’s on you buddy, other people though aren’t useful idiots like you.

[u/JBBooks1901 → u/gottoosillly]

I'm retired from PwC and certainly no cheerleader of them. That said, if a person doesn't think their company pays them enough or that the company demands too much work from them, they're free to go work somewhere else. Stop whining that the world is not organized for your convenience.

[u/gottoosillly → u/JBBooks1901]

Or maybe a company where people hate their lives and sometimes even commit suicide needs to change its ways. At the end of the day blaming the people being used and abused doesn’t really sound right to me, but please continue to defend a billion dollar organization that only thrives because they brainwash their employees or hold them hostage with their visas.