I left a while ago, but oh my God did the stress not stop when I did. Working there, I stopped sleeping, stopped taking care of myself. Almost a year later and I'm still working to feel normal again, even with a much better and less toxic job. Ford leaves a mark.
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Ford is nothing but Order Taking. You must do what you are told; no independent thought or questioning of the status qua allowed. The SMART objectives that everyone has been forced to do the last few years made this A LOT worse. The company will continue to struggle as this will stifle creativity and ingenuity.
This is not the place to learn new skills to be sure. If you are younger, you are sabatagoing your career working at Ford.
I do think it all started with Farley. Covid tied his hands for a couple of years, but the worse cultural change started with him. Not to mention quality control issues got A LOT worse under him, and then we saw the ridiculous SMART objectives before the chaotic, draconian RTO approach.
However, my guess is Farley is just a pawn of Bill Ford. So if it wasn't Farley, it would have been someone else just as bad.
@sd RTO back in 2024, when they abruptly started sc--wing with us.
When do you think all of this started?
I would argue that it started when JF became the CEO.
@q6 I look to do as little as possible when I’m at work. I spend my days reading books on my computer, it looks like I’m working but I’m not.
Was it malicious or not? You wonder if some of these people exist to make life miserable for the rest of us.
A mark like a skid mark kind of thing?
@kf
It’s not how many hours you put in.
It’s what you put into those hours.
@ph I’ve seen the show, and I’ve experimented with some dr-gs to make it a reality, unfortunately there is no current technology that I’ve found to replicate that experience.
@es practice "Severance" if you've ever seen the show. As soon as you walk out the door, work doesn't exist. That's how I roll.
Sc-mbags everyone, that’s what they are, human garbage, they will treat your life as it’s inconsequential if it protects their own. This place is indeed a family, and you’re probably not in it.
One probably doesn't "have to put in more hours at Stellantis" rather it's just what they like to see you do. More hours = more work? Usually not. But it makes management feel better.
This place is worse than smoking, confirmed by a medical professional.
@jt Young folks, heed this warning!
RUN, don’t walk away.
It is indeed a strange place, if you aren’t one of those people who were trained by your parents (who were life-long Ford employees) to be Ford employees.
A group of us tried malicious compliance for a time, but honestly it just made us feel bad about ourselves.
In the end it is not worth staying at Ford. Other employers aren’t impressed that you mastered the art of being a “good” Ford employee. The “good” Ford employee attributes are detriments at well run companies. Being a small cog at Ford that requires 5% transportable knowledge and 95% ford process knowledge is not going to be valuable in future job searches. That is something that people often don’t realize until it is much too late to alter course.
I had to leave voluntarily a few years back. Coworkers were great, management not so much. Hired in at a supplier and the atmosphere was totally different. People actually work together and management is supportive.
@eh Disconnecting from this place is crucial for your sanity. It’s great to hear that it went well for you. Personally, I’ve lost interest in people, their feelings, or sentiments. I’m solely focused on myself, and that’s all that matters.
@c1 I've done the same thing. For a bit, my coworkers forgot about me. Then, they started stopping by to what was up. Like I figured out some kind of secret code. Well, I think I did. Without annoying noise of coworkers and people preparing and loudly eating their meals every 2 hours, without being interrupted by loud obnoxious conversations, it's been nice. I get work, I do work, repeat. Less mistakes and I don't have to deal with all the nonsense.
Of course, we'll be moving to another building this year and things will get immeasurably worse. I just hope I can hold out.
@c9 last year was brutal with RTO, and the new performance system, they’ve ki-led the culture completely, no wonder sentiment scores are in the toilet.
@c1 I’m in the same place, completely demotivated after last year. I’ve completely disconnected from everything. They don’t care about us, so why should we care about them? They’re all slimy a--holes. We should start a FERA club possibly?
In a toxic environment, the best move is to leave. The second best move is to isolate yourself. I am not leaving yet, but my isolation is paying off.
I don't give a F about the company anymore, nor about the my job. I keep my interactions with coworkers at a minimum, and they have started to forget about me. The number of people asking questions has gone down a lot. Others are carrying the team, and I don't care.
I am not interested anymore in complying with every little thing from the managers, and life is getting better. Less headaches, less stress, and the paychecks keep coming. I know layoffs are coming, and I am prepared. In the meantime, while I wait for the boot, why bleed blue? Life is simpler now...
This is a toxic place, they think they're deflecting and call it "professionalism" with a smirk. In reality they've enabled abuse for far too long. People are sh---y, they lie, no one sane would allow the sh-t that goes on here to continue, but they do, and pretend they're doing you a favor. This place doesn't need empathy, it needs fairness and accountability. Some of us try to do the right thing, and get marginalized, and further abused, it ain't right.
I left last year and can agree. It was the best decision I could have made. Even if I lost a lot of money by leaving
It was worth it for my sanity.
I can trust my coworkers now. People smile at my new place. And there is no forced ranking putting everyone against each other.
They are toxic in a cowardly way. Gossip and behind the scenes skullduggery. Stellantis can be harsh too but they are more direct and up-front. You do have to put in more hours at Stellantis.
@ac
I was also terminated last year under the same circumstances as you, and I can 100% say that I do not miss Ford and its toxicity one bit. My health has improved leaps and bounds since I've been away from Ford, and my stress is minimal. As much as I hate Ford for what they stole from my pension, I think I will be better off in the long run.
Cant agree more, one year later now I realize how hard and toxic was the impact on my body and soul, only now I feel I can again trust on another co-worker , job uncertainty is common but that toxic environment is worse, get out for a better life
I used to hear about this phenomenon for years. After being scuttled last year for the sin of being over 50 and pension eligible, I can say this is true. The damage the toxic Ford infrastructure does to the non toxic people is insane. After 6+ months I'm just starting to feel okay again. Not spiraling when there's a moment of stress. After 25 years at Ford, I can see what working there did and stole from my well being.
@OP I'm right there with you. Some of the people at Ford are vicious. Unfortunately, our leadership is included in that bunch and promotes it. Total lack of sound judgement, childish, immature 'leaders’. Hopefully, they see the error of their ways. I'm sure some of them will when they're 70, alone, bitter, and have nothing to look forward to, just dreading the judgement from god, knowing they contributed nothing and left no positive impact on society except for misery and suffering.
Working at Ford will ruin your young career. If you leave, you will have no skills to obtain another job. The only thing you will have is Excel spreadsheet, which any high school kids can do.