It was great for me, I was overjoyed to be able to get a job in this company and I was greeted warmly by my future colleagues. Enthusiasm, however, has waned in the meantime.
Now, I don’t believe new employees share that same enthusiasm as I once did. This is now a completely different company. I wonder how the new hires feel when they start here now?
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Another thing to be careful of is fixing problems that are a coworkers golden goose. There are many incompetents at Ford who need to make it look like they are irreplaceable. They are usually easy to spot, they are the ones that don't want to document anything nor explain how things work and basically never want to share any of their "secrets".
These people deliberately create a problem and then try to profit from the solution.
Get crosswise with these people by slaying their golden goose and they will find a way to destroy your career. Of course these people should be fired for industrial sabotage or industrial malpractice, but they will rise and you will fall.
Exactly.
A couple of other things to point out.
Research on how to read the body language of when people LIE. Management and HR LIE like a rug.
If you are a white male, NEVER go to HR unless it is for some detail that needs to be addressed on your heath insurance or 401K.
Always ALWAYS remember, you are at work to pay bills to live. NOT live to work.
Always have a backup plan or a way to have side income even if it is just talking to a financial advisor on a regulator basis... like every three months at least. Watch the stock market every day.
Get a job in the company where you have to do analysis on cost cutting a design. Then use these skill sets for cost cutting in your household.
PAY OFF your house!!!!!
The automotive field is a very hostile field. There are less stressful careers like defusing IEDs in the middle east.
If this is OP first real job a few tips for you.
You are at work to work, not to make friends.
Be wary of those attempting to quickly befriend you. You will quickly find them twisting your words and sinking a knife in your back.
Be pleasant, never say anything at all about your coworkers.
Do NOT share any personal information with your coworkers other than the basic information. Talk only about work projects and ideas, never disclose your finances, dreams, personal relationships at work.
Ford is full of conniving two-faced people who will do anything to advance themselves.
Do NOT friend your boss or any coworkers on social media.
Do NOT attend after work happy hour. You will find manufactured stories circulating the next day about what you said or did. Usually two or more of the connivers will band together and make up stories painting you in a bad light.
Once you have spotted the connivers, NEVER email them without CCing another person. One of their favorite games is to edit your email and forward it along making it appear as if you were abusive/harsh / said something negative about someone else.
Be cautious of socializing outside work with your coworkers. One manipulative conniver loved to break up marriages and relationships, so people lost focus on work. She was very skilled and relished in the turmoil she caused.
You might be think why so paranoid? Everyone I know at Ford has been burned one or more times.
If you are burned badly at the beginning of your career you will likely need to leave Ford.
After awhile you will be able to spot the connivers with ease.
I am not going to "BASH" this person. But for the past 25 years. As soon as it turns 4pm.. People leave work. You do not see things like the golf leagues which everyone (including management) played in. X-Mas Parties well those are gone too. Now we have a luncheon which you are told to go too because your chief or exec picked up the Tab.
People are afraid to say anything for fear the HR MIBs will come for them. With no more pensions what type of loyalty do you get? These young recent grads will stay a few years then leave. Back in the day very few people left. I know it is a different time but when I did hire in Yes I did have fun. Pulled pranks but we worked our a$$ off too. I am glad to see the light at the end of the tunnel. don't know what the people after us will do.
First day & you are here on this forum. Something seriously wrong
You do realize by now that all the "greeted warmly" when you first joined was a show, right? That your peers all received an email telling them to come by and say hi. That you were ferried around to meetings by your sponsor to be "introduced" and us with some actual time with the company had to provide the obligatory oohs and ahhs that is expected to be performed least one is reported to management by the local section backstabber. That most of us secretly rolled our eyes when you waxed poetically on about "where you came from". To answer your question, likely nothing has changed for new hires, rather you have now completed your honeymoon period and see the reality the rest of us have have long since our first day. Welcome to the real Ford. Now, 2 paths lie ahead, get your 2-3 yrs on the books and get out, or....stay in the misery. Me, I am one of the last that joined when Ford had retirement so I'm here and locked in for a couple few more years. Feels like a jail sentence these past few years. Once I qualify, you bet I'll punch my card for the last time and get a job where work and skill are valued. For you, the decision is yours. Until then, welcome to the Hunger Games.
Dearborn is pretty empty these days. Do you mean the person manning the temperature scanner?
When did you start, 1981?
Yep. I can guarantee nobody is "greeting you warmly" and taking you out to lunch right after your first Webex of the day...