Thread regarding Ford layoffs

@kg Sounds just like my groups LL6.

The folks are "Spineless Jellyfish" ! The new ruling class too f'n wimpy to make a decision, they kick the can down the road.

We need some common sense interview questions for the folks transitioning into the leadership role. A good real Fireside Chat, where the person has to be able to have a conversation where they actually have to communicate without using IM or a cell phone.

Maybe they can ask some common sense questions like what is spark plug. Oh I forget, we're an electric car company, maybe we can change that to 'where is the charge port', point to the tires,....

Disappointingly, the once great company is being ruined by the id--ts placed into the LLx positions and they need to remove the People Leader from their title as that's been MIA for several years now.

In my experience, what you are picking up on is the profound disconnect between objectives set at the executive level and the actual reality on the ground for those of us planning and executing the work. There is a glaring lack of forward planning right now. Instead, there is a hyper-focus on quarterly objectives, which actively prevents the business from executing effectively or sustainably. People are acting transactional and cut throat because everyone is in survival mode, trying to deliver on short-term metrics that often don't make sense on the floor. This creates a dynamic where the average employee is being squeezed to meet this ridiculous objectives, and somehow find the time to factor in the extra work just to keep everything from imploding.

When you look at the incentive structures, it explains the behavior. Once you reach higher leadership levels, the annual payouts can literally set a family up for life. The stakes are incredibly high, and the pressure to hit those quarterly numbers is absolute. When the priority is securing that payout, the concept of forward-thinking, of actually improving the fundamentals of the business and making great cars, gets thrown out the window.

This dynamic feels excessive and exhausting right now, but it’s not unique to us. It is a direct product of how modern capital markets are designed. It’s the reason everything feels like it's succumbing to 'enshittification.' What we are all experiencing is that the system is actually doing what it's designed to do. And it's bizarre to us because we think we are working for a business that is designed to make cars. But once you get high up enough on the food chain, none of that matters. And it's difficult to comprehend because for those of us on the ground it's obvious to see how it's constantly degrading the operational efficiency of the business.

Love your family and take care of those around you. Be kind to others and you will receive kindness back.

Too many 8ndians off-shoring your jobs by indian chief and managers. The whole work ethics is a struggle between the brown and the rest. Nothing will change until you wheep them wweep with a mop.

No you’re not wrong. The RTO to the packed open work space environment has people pecking at each other. It struck me the other day that we are like chickens packed into an industrial concentrated chicken house. Everyone is short tempered, pecking at each other and trying to take resources from each other. The days of cubicle farms seem like heaven now.
Frigging LL5 permanently reserved a table by the window where he can watch everyone. He piled equipment and boxes on adjacent tables so no-one can sit near him. He does his little snake walk multiple times a day to look over everyone’s shoulder to see what is on their screens.

I retired in 22. I can honestly say prior to 1995 Ford was on a roll. Now people will say well look at 1996-99. Yeah but those products were conceived prior to Ford 2000. I have seen where the europeans took over and things really started to spiral. Company lost its focus. I am not a racist or s-xist .. my best boss i had was a black female. she was smart knew engineering may have not know everything but she was smart enough to ask the right questions. When a promotion came up in our dept. she along with one other exp person put in for the job. neither one of them were never given an interview. Then we had a black fcg one of the best i have seen. All he did was ask questions when a problem came up. I saw him submit a proposal to a director only to be shot down. That directors proposal was a failure. that fcg his proposal is now the #1 selling vehicle in that market.
Back when I hired in Q1 was taken serious. Not anymore. I can see may a recall on a software issue but things we have been doing for over a 100yrs! That reeks of shortcuts and cost savings.
Accountability.. Wow that went out the door a long time ago. In 1989 the MN12 won car of the year. but it drastically missed its cost targets .. that CNE was basically run out of the company. Now you have the F150 Lightning.. totally missed its target billions down the toilet and they promote that CNE. The latest mustang .. way to expensive. put to much technology into the vehicle to the point no one can afford them. Plant barely assembles 40k units. not enough to justify keeping that plant open.
Yes there is more competition now then back then. but that leadership was hungry and they understood the customer. Something the BOD and senior management forgot.
Sad to see it all decline. market share continues to decline quality in the toilet. But BOD and JF will get their $20mn+ bonus. In my book they are lucky to get $0.20.. You have a press that refuses to question and Wall Street where are they? I sold all my stock took the lump sum why because I lost faith in the people at the top. So there is my two cents.

No, you're not wrong. Ever since we've been required to RTO 4 days a week I've felt that some people were silently "bullying me" (e.g. walking around every hour trying to see who's in the office). It's so distracting that I've had to find other places to work.

@e2 you can say that again

@af they are mean because they are being abused.

@ct you are awesome

The company lost its spark after 2017. It has been an almost decade long of steady decline. Too many regime changes, too many distractions, too many bad hirings. When the outside person is selected for the chair with no auto experience or has less experience because they excel in the art of lying: never expect good times ahead. Anything built on lies will fail; there is no winging it: the truth always comes out. Society makes up symptoms like imposter syndrome, no, people are lying and are in deep fear of being exposed when their time runs out.

The best analogy I can give for this company: imagine Ford was a store. Each night they count the cash register drawer against the till. Drawer is short $5 bucks. Most businesses would dock the cashier’s pay as punishment, do it again and the cashier would be fired. Now imagine a business that allowed a short drawer every night, in matter a fact, celebrated it. Promote the cashier to store manager at a new store location they want to open. That is the company we work for. It’s a big company, it can do this for a long while. At some point however it will catch up. You see it in the earnings, you see it in the showroom, you experience it in the day to day. Not saying it’s doomed. Just need the pendulum to swing back, and swing back hard. For the imposters, your day of reckoning is upon you.

@a4
'We’re on the edge of a cliff with all of our jobs due to AI.'
no, the race and culture are getting replaced in places like the US
the new glop is easier to rule over

I had just about the worst year or two of my life that just passed, and I noticed the same thing, although I attribute some of it to organizational culture and total lack of common sense. Some orgs seem more friendly than others. And yes, I agree, some of the people are very cruel.

The new people don't really seem cruel to me, but more arrogant than we've seen in the past. They seem to forget where they are at times (like the model e guy on here, only I think we all know he's joking). That said, I haven't noticed much of a change outside of work, but it's hard not to take home the toxicity and negative outlook.

Not sure I understand the decadence comment. Most of us that have been around for a while tend to be more grounded.

I am concerned we've become something of a software/tech company in both practice and culture too. At the end of the day, the company needs to get back to basics, play to its strengths, and move forward. We build trucks and SUVs. We know how Americans think. We know what they really want. And I'm not sure why we don't give it to them, but it seems like we are back on the right track with some of the announcements in the last few months. EVs can be fun to drive, but would bankrupt the average American. And that's not an economically sustainable business model, set aside the environmental aspects of these things.

@ab Amazon is the absolute worst work environment. It’s a shame that they’ve cultivated it and tossed these people out to destroy other work cultures. It sounds like Ford leadership wants a churn culture like Amazon that annually cuts workers, even if you’re a good worker because they have to force rank all teams. Forced ranking turns employees on teams against each other and plummets moral. Good companies have employees that love the products they create. All the employees driving competitor vehicles shows how much they actually care about the products they create. Bring in employees that actually use and love the products they create. It’s hard to make a good product when more and more work is outsourced to teams that have never used our products. Then they wonder why quality is a problem…

They know what’s coming which you don’t

@OP iiwii: It is what it is. Tawta: They are what the are. FOG. FIT OR GIT!

It's called decadence

@ab It seems like some of the people that have been around for 20 years or more have gotten mean.

Agree, we have to not let the other cultures infiltrate but they do. My cousin works at Chewy and he said the Amazon people coming in were not good for the culture. You keep being you and help keep the true goodness that is left. I'm trying too. Hang in there. It's just so impersonal.

No, you’re not wrong. It stems from the change in people they’ve been hiring in recent years. These people value self over the collective and would easily step on you to be where they want to be. Business is also encouraging this through all their rhetoric. We’re on the edge of a cliff with all of our jobs due to AI. If the leadership decides to prioritize their own self interest and stockholders then it’s going to be a bloodbath for us all, those that stay and those that don’t. Get your ducks in a row because shareholders are going to destroy our economy. Short term gains, long term pain. You’ve got a year or less. I expect massive cuts across all companies this year for stock price bumps and a depression next year because these id--ts making the decisions unemployed all of their buyers. Government won’t act fast enough.