I used to think stress was just in my head, but now my body is telling me otherwise. I have constant headaches, trouble sleeping, and no energy. My doctor asked if I was okay at work. I didn't know what to say.
38 replies (most recent on top)
Not agreeing to do that in the 1st place seems like a no-brainer. You just gotta point those things out when you see them. To think that's bullying is just not playing the game of life as an adult. Good on the SG for quitting as there is just no other appropriate response. You can call it blaming the victim if you want, but what it really is, calling it like it is. Life just isn't kind to people who have no self respect.
@19j+1kr8zdcvy “you probably deserved the treatment you received” sounds like typical blaming the victim behavior (bullying). The post says the SG blew the whistle on the LL6 to the LL5 and then ceased accommodating the LL6s whims. It also says the SG left the job. I am sure lessons were learned by everyone except the LL6.
It is most interesting to hear new Ford employees say how lazy long term employees are. After the honeymoon period they also decide to either coast at work or they adopt the toxic behavior of Ford leaders: shift blame, take credit, sabotage peers, claw over the backs of others to advance, engage in mobbing and bullying.
It is why Ford employees have such a difficult time finding and keeping another job. Their work ethic, motivation and skills erode year over year without them even noticing until it is too late and they are trapped. Once trapped instead of digging out they become Ford zealots and mindlessly applaud and re-post all things emanating from the CEO’s mouth. Then one day they are laid off with no skills and no meaning. Their whole identity was Ford and the Ford “family” rejected them.
Nah, not really. Is it bullying though? Just calling out an outrageous work schedule and the insanity of someone agreeing to it? It comes down to standing up for yourself. Someone calling out a missed opportunity for someone to do that isn't really bullying IMHO. Just calling a spade a spade that's all.
@183+1kr8zdcvy A Ford bully has entered the chat.
If anything required 12 hour days 7 days a week for 3 months, it was D.O.A. anyway. Probably a fake post because if you actually agreed to work that schedule and thought you'd see any benefit you probably deserved the treatment you received. ..and no you didn't get that time back, that's not how time works. You spent it...it's gone. You just might have unfortunately spent it doing something worthless. Lesseons learned. You might think your coming out ahead by reading a book in a cube or something, but you didn't. You were bullied.
Quite likely all the previous posters coworkers had either previously had the same treatment by management or had observed it. Those type of managers need a continual supply of new victims as they serially burn bridges with talented new comers. It’s what happens when bullying con artists and gasbags are promoted.
@cv good for you! My awakening came when my LL6 told me I could have one-for-one comp time if I worked 12 hour days 7 days a week for 3 months to get a project complete by deadline. I kept a log of the hours and reported them weekly to the LL6.
At the successful end of the project, I was 1) not given credit for my work 2) was told by my LL6 that a new critical project was starting and I could not take comp time until that project was done, and yes I needed to keep on with my unpaid OT. At a skip level meeting with LL5 I asked why the work was not spread evenly and when I could take my 12 weeks of accumulated comp time. The LL5 seemed surprised, scheduled a follow up meeting with me and the LL6. The LL6 said I had volunteered to work uncompensated OT. I provided documentation to the contrary. The LL5 said “there was nothing he could do about past issues and I would lose all the comp time”.
I started a strict 8-5 schedule. But scheduled private “meetings” to go to the gym, go mall walking, go to an afternoon movie, go run errands, read a book in my cube. I kept a running log of my “recouped” comp time until I had “recouped” all my earned comp time. Every time my a--hat LL6 was abusive (yelled, thru me under the bus, took credit, stirred up s*it ) I levied a 2 hour a--hat tax and added the 2 hours to my comp time tally. When I had finally “recouped” all the time and was rested and relaxed I started looking for a new job.
@y4 you know some people are only asking for a healthy work environment. Sometimes the lack of proper management of management causes this and HR only seems to exacerbate the issue.
Natural selection won't be kind to this one.
Why don't you just come out and ask people if they're interested in getting laid off after hiring into a fast paced challenging environment where you'll be pushed to your limits, then promptly thrown under the bus.
Same thing.
Gave me a heart attack. Went back to work two days later. Grow up pa--y.
There is a difference, you are correct. But there's one solution that can make both of them significantly less of a factor. Finding someplace else to work.
@we I think there’s a difference between hating your job and being treated unfairly…. Maybe you disagree?
Grow up! I guess it is much easier to post on a blog that you hate your job then it is to put on you your big boy (girl) pants and look for another job!
With the UEV soon to be coming to form and launch, have you considered moving to Model e? Maybe you just need a new and exciting challenge, Model e will satisfy that.
This is what you do when you've weighed all options and found it easier to just stay and manage it. People that stay and don't manage it properly just end up making a bad choice.
Good on you
I remember hearing a real world account of someone at an automotive OEM (big 3). He had a lot of stress, older guy but not too old. He had a heart attack at work and died. He wasn't in the best shape at all...but - there was a director that treated everyone like dog $hit... real pr*ck. This director had demoted more than a few people for simply voicing their concerns and disagreeing with some technical fundamentals. Of course if you were a good manager / director thats what you'd expect from a top notch technical employee instead of being a "yes man". But not this guy...he was an egotistical S.O.B. - no one liked him and to this day people say " Yeah remember working for him? Damn I'm glad I left."
That's this particular manager's legacy - being remembered for driving people so hard and being an absolutely $hitty human. I hope he's out there reading this right now and knows people won't ever forget how poorly he treated people. The job really doesn't matter when it gets down to it.
If you're on a project or program right now that is really stressful, and you are in management, I'm going to tell you this....take stock in how you treat your team. They will never forget it as long as they live. Be the manager that helps them through difficult times because your behavior when times are hard is what makes your employees want to either run through a wall for you, or consider knowing you to be a blight or stain on their life experience. How you treat people makes all the difference in the world and stays with people longer than you'll ever know.
@cy don’t feel safe, built insurance
@at
Did you do anything to take them to task, and if so, were you successful?
@OP. It is time for you to make a choice. Some people leave the company (even with a pay cut). Some people move to another position inside Ford (even saw an LL6 choose a GSR8 position). Some stay and die younger for the stress. Me? I stayed and improved my sanity by changing my approach to work.
In 2019 I was having some issues with my new manager, plus a dump of all kinds of projects on me. I was stressed out, and getting on daily arguments with people (mainly with my backstabbing manager, who hanged me out to dry in multiple occasions). In all my years at Ford, this was the toughest time. After the SRD, I even started looking for another job out of FMC.
The jobs in Michigan were not better than what I already had. I would had to take a pay cut, like a coworker of mine, or a more junior position. I asked myself this question... Why should I lose my job, my salary, my technical position, for an a$$hole? The answer in my case was F*ck my LL6 and all the a$$holes in management and the brownnoses and the deadwood... I am not leaving, and not going to lose my position.
Of course, that meant I had to make changes in my approach to work. The first change I did was no more free OT. I get paid 40 hours, I work 40 hours. Automatically, a lot of the stress went away. I spent more time with the family, less time fixing the sh!t from others.
Then, the next step was self evident: no more bleeding blue. I did not hired/promoted the a$$holes in management, nor I had the power to remove them. The owners of the company didn't care or know better, since they chose "furniture guy" and later the "BEV snake oil salesman from H3ll". Why am I trying to "do the right thing", when the company didn't do the right thing with the SRD? Why am I taking ownership of all issues, when most of the issues happened due to the managers decisions against my own advice? We are NOT a family, and if we are, this is not the kind of family I want to be a part of. So I am treating this like business, because that's exactly what it is.
The third step took me a little bit longer, but is paying off really well: no more meetings. I used to spend between 25-35 hours a week in meetings. Most of them were due to "wide net casting", because they didn't know which teams to include. Others were a repetition of past meetings. So I used to work on pressing issues while listening in these meetings, but working like that is not efficient, and adds stress. Currently I spend less than 5 hours a week in meetings. Not going to the meetings got me two advantages: time for doing my job properly, and less tasks assigned to me.
After the layoffs in 2022, more responsibilities fell on me. I had to do some of the jobs of people that were let go. Again, my stress went up. I was juggling too many things at once. And then came the best "blessing" I had from the company. My salary increase that year was "disgustingly" low, especially when I was doing the tasks of another two positions. So the company saved some green letting them go, and I got peanuts?
My response was simple, and it is the fourth step: no more multitasking. I asked my manager what was the most important task, and focused on that one. I didn't care if projects got delayed, if people were complaining, if the other tasks were not done in time. When anyone would scream loud enough, I would send them to my manager. If my manager said to drop what I was working on, I would drop it and take the new task. No matter what I thought was the most important task. What mattered was my manager had to take the heat and manage the political winds. And let's face it... managers are better than technical people at the office politics...
Since then, my life has improved a lot, even when I am still at Ford. I have been in the same position for several years now, and since I lack ambition, that's perfect for me. Also, since the SRD in 2019, I realized I was not going to retire at Ford. So I started growing my emergency fund. Every now and then there are winds of layoffs, but I have peace of mind, since I have enough money saved. It seems late this year, or maybe next year, I'll lose my job, according to the latest gossip. If that's the case, I'll go on a vacation for a few weeks. I don't know exactly where yet, not that it really matters. I just need to heal myself before going back to the grinding.
@OP. Please notice that's my personal approach to working at Ford. It might not be a good fit for you, or it could end bad for you. I am in "relative" peace, but your personality may be very different from mine. I have known people that cannot "let go". So take my personal experience as something that may or may not work for you. Good luck!
They don’t care if you have a heart attack. No one notices, and they don’t pay attention. Drive yourself to the ER and give the hospital name the finger when you check in. Psycopant managers and LLs do anything for a chuckle or to please their friends. What’s wrong with people these days? Why can’t people just be decent to each other?
Hehe, you know what’s funny? At any normal company, the incompetent and toxic individuals are usually the ones let go. At Ford, even the disgruntled employees on the layoff suggest that the victims of a toxic environment should leave. That’s sad. No wonder half of us probably leave with a form of CPTSD….
I walked into a meeting back in March and felt this overwhelming sense of dread. Like my stomach sank. Wasn't even a bad meeting. Knew it was time to go at that point. I decided I'd take a pay cut if needed. Every Monday feels like the first day back from summer vacation as a kid.
@be I don’t work here anymore….
...and what does this accomplish? Blame HR? Fine. We got that out of the way. Now what? You just gonna stand there and get slapped over and over or would you be open to finding a different place to work? Maybe you're good to just post here about it and make excuses about how stressed you are. If that makes you happy then you do you.
@ay I squarely blame HR and the psychopaths that only work here for the short term in order to get promotions elsewhere. This company had a good reputation years ago, now people push common sense aside for short term gain at the expense of others. Leech?
The number of people that I have seen either retire and die within a year, or die while still on the job within the last few years is giving me pause for concern. Stress ki-ls.
Place starts making you physically sick, that's when you have priorities to set. Life, or the job?
Make a choice.
@a7 Almost a year ago, the worst part of a terrible situation finally unfolded. Regrettably, my health had already deteriorated by that time, and now I’m merely grappling with the repercussions. The management was utterly incompetent; they couldn’t even spell harassment, and HR appeared to be utterly clueless. It was evident that others shared their disdain for the situation, but management remained oblivious, maintaining a smug demeanor. Despite their lack of business law knowledge and their unqualified skills, they proceeded to make decisions that quadrupled their liability in an instant. Their lack of basic EEOC knowledge was simply appalling.
I was SIRP'd in Q3 2022. For the first few days I was devastated. But by the end of that first week, my family told me that I seemed happier and less stressed. And it was true. I felt better than I had felt in years at Ford.
It is so much easier to say than to do - but if you are truly unhappy there, do everything you can to change that. And if leaving is the only way to change that - then leave. You will be glad you did.
I agree, between the hotel desks, RTO, FEDE and the total disorganized sh!t show, it will take its toll. I’m so sick of jira and how people assign tickets with no context or info, a one liner of bs and basically throwing the problem over the wall.
Teams is horrendous, nothing better than waking up and see my name tagged and more disorganized communication that eventually gets buried. Then mix in outlook and all the other bs tickets and processes, systems within ford, it would drive anyone to the brink.
Then you have the people element. H1-B coworkers who eat at their desks and clang the spoon constantly against the Corning glass container and sm--k their lips. Only thing that helps is noise canceling headphones.
Also the double standard of allowing some people to be full remote and they call in meetings from their home office totally avoid of the bs commute, hotel desks and other noise. What is wrong with that picture?
I have a coworker who constantly creates word docs and sends them in the meeting chat, instead of having just one master document there are like hundreds scattered in the cloud. I just ignore them now. Same goes for teams, turn off notifications and don’t respond.
I’m definitely not staying at Ford, exit plan is in place. Knowing this helps me through my day. Do the minimum and plan, life is too short for this bs.
@a9 Pay, I've finally given up though, quitting this month.
Really! Why would anyone in their right mind just find another job instead of posting on this blog?
Destroyed my health, doctor put me on beta blockers a while back.
I literally could’ve written this 6 months ago. I had to address my concerns with a healthcare professional and their response was to LEAVE!
I moved to an internal role and my overall work life balance improved significantly.
You should just quit. You can’t put a price on health.