Any rumors on up
coming round of layoffs?
Possibly In Sept?
Q3 earnings call was not too promising
80 replies (most recent on top)
@awe i agree. The line managers and team leads should do the actual billable work for the portion of their time.
Currently, they only report up PowerBi numbers to US managers and approve vacations. No tangible value, no decision making, no problem solving, no accountability, no ownership. They mastered the art of deflecting the issues.
Too many levels of these managers Act as barriers and bottlenecks to execution instead of enablers.
@awe well thats obvious to everyone!
Cam plant is a long overdue for restructuring and reorg. Maybe not too late to make the changes to improve the chances of recovery.
A few managers in the office remind me of the stereotypical manager figures, status quo champions, in unionized environment funded by the tax payers.
@OP Victoria will save you. I was on virtual calls and she crushed it in a peloton.
I just got laid off but got hired at BECKHOFF. I don’t have a non compete but as a Rockwell architect I fear I have nothing to add other than how far behind Rockwell has fallen. Omg. Matt, Bobby and Tessa combined have less intelligence than their mid level managers.
The RIFs generally take place around the next earnings call and Thanksgiving holiday timeframe. For the Cambridge location, it seems that the mid level managers and team leads are targeted.
To help break the silos and improve the execution efficiency, the restructuring seems to be long overdue for this facility.
Functional Managers should perform the actual billable work for the big part of their time.
The rest of the time should be dedicated people management (approving vacation and templated PADR)
This is called 'quiet quitting'. And do you blame them? These last 8 plus years, Blake Moret has provided several years of no pay increases and when you see a pay increase it is lower than 2 percent. How does Rockwell expect people to keep working hard, when you know at the end of the year your pay increase if you receive one, will be far less than the cost of living. Basically why bust a@@ for Rockwell, when you do not get rewarded with pay? Everyone gets a trophy now at Rockwell, but I rather see it in my pay check, because that helps me provide for my family.
'"coasting and counting their points for retirement" - not just key decision makers. There are many that are sticking around BC it's too easy to not retire and keep floating around, depositing paycheck after paycheck.'
Canada has a much better compensation package offered to employees that get RIF, because the Canada government has much better laws to help the person being let go from their job. Rockwell is way too generous on the high echelon people that are let go with their awesome golden parachute packages.
@7qt if Canada has unemployment compensation like the USA has, ride it out until your laid off, then collect the severance, then when that and unemployment runs out, retire.
Layoffs in MV?
Any layoffs coming to Cambridge?
Not sure if I should retire or wait to be laid off
Blake and Tessa have done really well for themselves, board of directors, and shareholders. The main job of CEO is to deliver on the expectations of the shareholders. Blake has done exactly that. The RA share prices are at the all time high.
Blake and Tessa are extremely charismatic and intelligent.
They are so high up that they are simply insulated as they are surrounded with yes men who present heavily sanitized information:
@778 "coasting and counting their points for retirement" - not just key decision makers. There are many that are sticking around BC it's too easy to not retire and keep floating around, depositing paycheck after paycheck.
I have a very limited optimism for the future of both Otto and Cambridge plants in Canada.
Cambridge plant mv shipments /revenues decline year over year. Long overdue for restructuring, perhaps not too late to make the key moves. The Key business decison makers are coasting and counting their points for retirement. The latest tariffs may be last nail in the coffin.
The RA executives all come from sales. the “founder like” mindset is clearly lacking.
@4bc I had a very entertaining night listening to my friend who was let go on that.
Apparently the jet flies with the US executives every week to Canada now. They keep saying fancy terms for launching solutions, but failed to get any successful products or even parts into the market since the Clearpath acquisition that was not worked on before the acquisition. Sales are horrible at both CP and the main Canada plant. The only thing he heard that was memorable was a pizza party from Tessa, and they missed that as it happened on a random day at office.
Most good people are leaving or already on the lookout since weeks. My friend heard the main Canada plant also has a similar story.
But maybe you have better reasons for recommending CEO candidates.
Got laid off from Otto last week
Software engineering
Decent severance package…cant complain too much
Otto cuts came in as no surprise!
I am sure that US decison makers understand that Cambridge teams must be restructured.
Cambridge revenues are very low and for now it is below the radar for US executives.
Sadly many complacent managers/ team leads/op leads who do not add any value aside from approving vacs and attend virtual meetings where no decisions are made. No visible leadership. No accountability.
The remote mode of work and lack of proper monitoring have destroyed the intra teams/departments collaboration and culture and accelerated compacency and reinforced the silos.
@6y9 Cambridge is long overdue for a major restructuring/overhauling. I cant see layoffs. Attrition.
Any layoffs upcoming at Cambridge facility?
I was let go from Otto yesterday.
Decent package.
I heard at least 50 staff. Management has not ruled out further layoffs. They seem to be aggressively growing sales department tho
wasn't the writing on the wall when they decided to build out a Otto assembly line in Milwaukee? they were hiring a whole line of folks for it and I think they want it done before November
How many folks are laid off at Otto today?
Product management and marketing teams safe?
It finally happened in the OTTO division in KW Canada. Multiple software teams lost headcount. Some cut to the bone.
@6na the larger a company becomes the more layers. Unless you want each manager to have 30 reports or more. I think blaming the first line managers is a weak cop out. The bigger problem is senior leadership is not courageous and mostly sales wonks. And the ceo has made so many mistakes he has ruined the culture and history Customers know.
My 5 cents…
There is are way too many layers of managers and team leads and like roles. These roles are neither the contributor role not the decision maker role. Resistance roles. The message /ideas cannot travel from the individual contributors to the actual decision maker. To improve efficiency, productivity, communication RA must flatten the org. structure.
@OP if you have been around a long time, you remember functional excellence. It cut layers dramatically. Under Keith Nosbusch. Blake has created bloat and needs to do the same. But stock price is hi so he won’t do anything and leave it to next leaders. Let see if they can do anything better. Btw-did anyone anyone see the CIO post called the race towards autonomy on LinkedIn. What a drivel fluff piece. Probably written by ChatGPT. Anyone who likes it is just a su-k up. How does that guy still have a job. He has wasted 10s of millions and delivered squat!
The company desperately must flatten its organizational structure. Amazon and other big techs are doing the same.
There is are too many levels of “manager like roles” and mudguard roles who do not contribute to the actual work being done. No product knowledge. No industry knowledge. No accountability…escalating issues is almost useless. They cannot make decision, they cannot approve anything. Sad.
How crazy and upside down things are i would not be surpised if they cut the high performance individual contributors instead.
Unnecessary layers of armchair Managers, team leads, operation leads, and assistants, meeting attenders who do not contribute to efficiency, project delivery, revenue, risk assessment, issue resolution, margins improvements, customer experience. No accountability.
All charging indirect hours.
All the above folks of course prefer the status quo and will never leave the company. Why should they.
The company is run inefficiently just like the government institution.
It's the exact same mess here in Poland and India – we've got like 2 full layers of these useless managers who can't even approve a damn pencil without jumping through 10 hoops. Training? Ha, what training? Zero, zilch. Best advice: don't even breathe a question near a manager, or you'll get the side-eye of death. "Bravo points" only go to the boss's golden kids, the ones who kiss the ring. In our team, we've got more managers, team leads, project leads, and freaking "project lead assistants" than actual people doing the real work on projects. And get this – I heard after they shoved in that Agile cr-p, the bureaucracy straight-up DOUBLED. Now we've got these godawful morning stand-ups where everyone drones on about nothing – feels like some trendy new fad, like they're forcing us into these lame-a-s morning comedy sketches every damn day. Raises? Oh, don't get me started – that's the sacred cow no one dares moo about. Total taboo, like it'll summon the end times if you mention it.
@61s it's especially bad in sales and marketing (I wonder why). Millennials need "manager" on their title a year out of school. Problem is, HR pays what market pays and BC we're just making up titles with manager in it, it will automatically demand 6 figure salary. No one at Rockwell will actually look to see what the Manager of Emotions and Feelings does, but we apparently need one and they will hire more Yes-men under them.
Manager bloat is everywhere, and if you look at who Rockwell is hiring it is all manager + level.. almost no workers that actually do the work.. there are almost 3 levels of management in all departments while the RIF or people leaving and them not rehiring is all being done at the lower levels... why would managers leave when they are being paid way above those reporting to them and they do none of the work
Rockwell Canada must to remove at least 1-2 layer of the managers and team leads bloat. Aside for approving vacation and PADRs nobody know what is that they do. This reality really ki-ls the productivity of the individual contributors.
Remove the redundant layer completely or at least convert them to combined 75% individual contributor role and 25% managerial duties. No projects work, no decision making, no authority, no accountability, no leadership at all.
I was at Rockwell only 2 years and could not understand the value add of these managers.
All Canadian RA individual contibutors should report directly to US management members.
The quality is so bad because rockwell pinched the pennies and they removed quality that was embedded in each product group and it is now all done by just one ‘general’ group handling all product quality. What a joke.
Also Rockwell needs to remove at least 2 layers of the manager bloat! They are not needed or make them do a hybrid role as doing same work as members under them and 20 percent time managing. All managers do is micro manage and approve vaca and do padr’s. Lets eliminate padr’s. They are useless!!!
@5yj I think the same applies to the US management team. Let's start the shake-up by getting rid of the Director of Quality, has anyone else noticed how warranty keeps going up and overall quality keeps going down under his "leadership".
@5b7 very true. Many Cambridge managers in are way too comfortable, and desparately hang on the status quo. They are led to believe that they are too expensive for the company to be laid off. Near Zero action and performance and avoid any resistance/confrontation that is often required to make a change.
The Cambridge location desparately needs a shake up/reshuffle of key managerial roles.
Reminds me of the managers at CanadaPost where my son works
@5hc so just contractors let go. That's normal and what you signed up for.
@5b7 true! You have nailed it!
Canada location is long overdue for a major overhaul! Too many managers leads and powerBi gurus ….not enaged in any project team growth and value add to customers, efficiency, sales, or revenue!
My contract aling with few other folks was abruptly terminated in the Cambridge plant this morning.
I think restructuring rather than RIF will be more important for the future growth.
Most of the BUs must be restructured to have a remote chance of growth!
Too many Managers and team leads and operations leads without effective leadership or authority or clear objectives aka Professional attendees to virtual meetings without takeaways and PowerBi watchdogs. Zero effort or value produced that can be invoicable to customer!
Some teams are starving whereas other teams struggle to pump up the utilization figures. Hopefully, the decision makers/US managers will take a wholistic view of each plant/BU and make the necessary changes.
I will be retiring soon so the rifs will not be a game changer for me
Reduction in force technically will not take plave be through the layoffs! The art of managing people out and quiet firing is on! It is less costly when ppl leave on their own