Thread regarding 3M layoffs

@100 the incredible chain of events led 3Ms board to hire a GE "god" like mcnerney.

First, Desi was a nice guy who loved 3M but was a Peter Principle posterchild. He didnt groom any obvious qualified successor. His claim to fame was spinning off Imation, which was a good idea but years too late. His 1st day of work should have been a bad omen. He arrived to work during the aftermath of the Halloween blizzard. At least 3M Center employees were given a paid day off while he manned the phones.

Second, the stock traded sideways without any upside during the late 90s, when the market was going up 20 percent or more per year. This put pressure on the board for an outside hires.

Finally, Jack Welch has been knighted and sainted by Wall Street so any GE hire, even Nardelli who tried to ruin Home Depor were in high demand.

That fact that GE is being saved by a non GE guy says it all.

@rc
Boards of directors did not get "duped by the GE fad". They welcomed it with open arms. All boards of directors are made up of the same kind of people as CEOs. They could care less about anyone else. Everyone blames the CEO. The CEO is ultimately the Fall Guy for the board of directors and the employees. Just like the President of the US is the Fall Guy. People allow it to happen because they are getting theirs, f the little guy. Until the System changes, this is your world. Make the best of it.
No one has the gnads to do a sick out or do a full-on wildcat -type strike. Why? FEAR! They know you are afraid to speak up and lose your jobs. That is why this is happening: people like to chatter, but not do anything. Go somewhere else, same issue. 90 some years ago not far from here on a street named Washington Avenue in Minneapolis people got together and fought. Some did not live. Some lost everything. But they fought together. All the unions worked together for a common cause.
Maybe put your fear and phone down and stand up. Let the chips fall where they may.

@qz was able to retire after 35 years but got to the 91 or 92 points that help much with retiree medical.

The 3M of the 1980s and even 90s was a gem. Great people including a helpful HR team. Social events, service dinners, surprise little perks.

Sadly 3M board got duped by the GE fad that was sweeping American business in the late 90s. Hired mcnerney who didn't get the throne at GE and was buffered with millions to "fix" 3M, when the company needed a few tweaks and not a full frontal lobotomy.

Buckley seemed to stop the decay for a while but Inge continued the descent into the corporate graveyard. Mikey put his foot on the accelerator. Now mercenary BB is going to put 3M as we knew it out of its misery. The name may live on in one of the spins. Maybe the tapes business. But the magic is long gone.

Be careful all you 10 to 20 year boomer haters, you are a cost liability and next to be replaced by cheaper new hires. Old people training the kids just like the natives did.

As a former 3Mer of 35 years jettisoned a few years ago when Wicked Wendy was pushing her "global standardization of EWS", I come back to this board from time to time to see what's changed. From the outside: nothing's changed for the good. Mining's a sinking ship, and the execs are still just shuffling the deck chairs.

I've been promoted twice in the two years I've been at my new employer with a director-level position in clear sight. The skills that I developed and honed at 3M are of GREAT value. Far greater than they ever were at 3M.

Get every dime you can from 3M, and get out the door with you integrity and sanity in place. Because ten years from now it will exist only as sold of brands in certain markets.

Another post for boomers and the “I have spent 25+ years in the company….” Pathetic!

@j6 announced by BB August 5th

@mm Boards justify CEO pay as ‘market rate,’ but when the ratio is 250:1 and my whole year equals two hours of his, it stops being leadership and starts being exploitation.

It’s called pay for performance…. Who cares if the scale is 1-3 or 1-5.

@j6 Because getting scored 1-3 is somehow better than 1-5?

@h0 is the company back to using Jack Welch 5 level rank and yank system again?

That system was a fricking disaster. Never saw more demoralized employees who busted butt but got a 3 (average) ranking. Or even worse, got a 2 (below average) when they were doing solid work day after day, but someone had to ranked a 2 to meet the bs quotas.

@h0
They already got our retirement! She's crashing hard, we aren't all going to make it.......jettison all unnecessary dunnage immediately....lean and mean, man ,lean and mean for the next quarter if the 21st century

@fp New staff? Where are you living? He pull out old things we had already years ago - like 5 step EPR, he would like to control everything = micro managing. He is only great in cutting benefits for us, like WYW, benefit cars, Everyday Wins, ..... what will be next? Our retirement plans?

MR was an airhead who solved every problem with firing people and cutting costs. It's very refreshing to have a CEO who wants to make something new and sell more stuff to more customers. BB hasn't done anything to negatively affect workers, yet, (besides making y'all come join us at the center). Let's try to crank out some new stuff because this might be the last CEO for a while who believes in our ability to make new things vs cutting costs.

I'll turn into BB's number 1 hater when he starts losing his nerve and firing thousands of people, but until then let's invent cool stuff.

2.7 Billion for new lawsuits!

@f2 the billions Inge borrowed to goose the share price to scare off the activist investors who raided and stripped down Dupont and Dow were bad enough. Now, BB wasted on share buybacks. 3M could have not only invested heavily in valuable research but also disconvoluted the complex costly supply chain he whined about when he took over.

The man has two missions. First, goose the share price and his personal returns, regardless of the long-term impact. Second, break up the company into multiple pieces to "unleash shareholder value" (which are a activist investor buzz words).

Quiet quitting will get the bosses fired when BB doesn't get the outrageous returns he demands. Witness Tiremans departure after OTIF cratered under his machete style cuts.

As you said, his pay is wired to the stock price. Thus 2.7B in stock buybacks...easiest bang for the buck for a short term boost. Pretty sure Inge used the same playbook. Meanwhile, I can't help but wonder what we could do 5 years from now if we used some of that 2.7B to modernize our plants or to dump into research...

I kinda like the guy. Ya gotta admit he's got 'em all fooled!

@ds Haha… while Bill’s already on his yacht, I’m supposed to keep rowing? No thanks.

@ds mcnerney tried this same line of bull about a rising tide lifts all boats. He milked the company, gutted research, discriminated against older workers, and then finally left to ruin Boeing.

3M had a winning culture in the 80s and 90s. That was and still is the king for LONG-TERM shareholder value. BB cares about beating the next quarter targets, not about the 3 to 5 year plans. The guy's a mercenary, and well paid at that.

Since Desi left, the only decent CEO this company had was Buckley.

Do less? In other words, do what you have been doing. If you worked harder this place would be spewing gold for all. The CEOs gladly share the wealth. They have to push the employees because employees are inherently lazy anyway. It takes leadership, guidance and true management skills to steer those rowing the boat thru troubled waters. So, he asks for a little more, so what? If you have any time for yourself, let alone for your family, you are wrong. One day, you will be looking at your last minutes and you will ask yourself, "Did I really do enough for Bill, did I really do enough to make 3M better?" Don't be a self-centered bstrd, get on those oars and start rowing 3M to New Lands!

@dg Employees are 3M’s only real asset—yet Bill Brown treats us like disposable fuel. After years of relentless restructuring, layoffs, and relentless cost-cutting, you’d expect employees to be respected. Instead, we’re wrung dry so one man can line his own pockets.
Since early 2023, 3M has eliminated around 8,500 jobs globally—that’s roughly 10% of its workforce—including 2,500 roles in January and another 6,000 announced in April. 
By late 2024, the impact ran even deeper: 3M had cut 12% of its workforce and shut 75 offices, trimming down global operations to fuel their supposed turnaround. 

As one employee painfully put it:

“We’ve already given everything—our time, health, loyalty—and gotten nothing back but pink slips and pressure.”

We’re done being stretched. Bill Brown knows it—but he keeps driving the squeeze because every ounce of pain we take means more stock gains for him.

So don’t break yourself for him. Don’t fuel his bonus machine. Do the bare minimum. Because he sure isn’t here for you.

Why does everyone criticize BB? His job is to make 3M a more valuable company. Do you not think that’s what he’s focused on doing? The board’s job is to align his incentive structure to that which he’s being asked to do. You all don’t have to work for a publicly traded company.

@OP quiet quitting will be going into overload when people are forced to spend 4 days a week at the Center. Just spend time drinking coffee, taking popcorn breaks, learning new games on your personal cell, etc. Your 2nd level boss head will explode when BB put outrageous targets in department goals. They can't fire everyone. Sorry, BB but the operatives you send here to monitor dissent will teach you (again) that what goes around comes around.