Tis of interest all the doom and gloom which plagues this website. Heed the illiteracy of many of the posters and deduce their intelligence. Any who have a minute amount of competence can read the GD earnings calls and deduct what is transpiring. GAC is and has been profitable, the doom and gloom is unwarranted and merely unsupported pessimism. This is clearly preventative maintenance by GD in the face of a very uncertain market future. In the face of a shrinking short-term market, operational cost reduction is the only survival tool.
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I hate to break it to everyone... But GS is not one of the better places to work. There is a huge culture problem. From certain "backwoods", "good old boy" group leadership structures, to the whole problem of producing aircraft on what is almost automotive timelines. The problem is from the ground up. I've been contracting a long time, and have seen very few companies (that actually stay in business) that have as high a turnover rate, as GS, for the groups that I've worked in. In fact, one group that I worked in was so bad about turning over employees, they actually had to start removing past employees from the black list, lest they not be able to fill seats. The good ones could only be bribed back. The 4 year contractor limit was also waived, in a couple of instances.
I'd have to take exception, also, with the person who said that a well run company doesn't have layoffs every 3-5 years. That isn't true for any company that develops new products, in this day and age. Temporary help is a way of life. Not everyone will be needed for sustaining activities, nor will they want to go. Layoffs are not the problem. Nor are the even necessarily a symptom of the problem. Because in this particular case, layoffs and culture problems exist simultaneously, yet independently.
Yes, the financial statements are wonderful but they aren't transparent enough. The Gulfstream backlog appears robust but we don't know the terms of those orders. Gulfstream may have relaxed their contract requirements to get people to sign which would increase the chance of them walking away during an economic downturn. Future orders may also be spaced out over a longer period of time. China also slapped retaliatory tariffs on Gulfstream size aircraft so it's reasonable to expect fewer sales to the worlds 2nd largest economy. Add in the fact that much of the world economy has already started to slow down.
Another thing to consider is the US government debt situation. Somebody has to buy that debt and with interest rates going down, there will be fewer buyers. One way to get people to buy the debt is to spook them out of the already stagnant stock market. This would in turn motivate people to go into preservation mode which would almost gurantee a US recession because most of our economy is from consumer spending. Corporations buying private jets during a recession is not popular and would undoubtedly result in fewer sales and possibly cancellation of exist orders.
Then you have to look at Gulfstream internally. They have major supplier issues that may bottleneck their ability to deliver even if they have the orders. Rolls Royce has been just in time for awhile and Nordam is holding G500/G600 back. Add in all the unnecessary project cost. Gulfstream needs small, medium, and large that they can reliably deliver.
Another problem internally is the management situation. Prior to 2015 most of the management they brought in seemed to have been selected based on their ability to lead. Ever since they hired the new HR VP it seems like the focus has changed from capability to careerism. There is also way too much management who have no real understanding of the job they are in change of leading. There is alot of delusion from management on the amount of effort something takes and that usually runs good employees off and destroys morale. Management has also become a major silo that validates themselves out of reality.
Then you have other parts of GD business that are in trouble. So of course they are going to squeeze their cash cow tighter to make up for it. All in all I predict rougher seas ahead for Gulfstream.
Look folks, if this was fair, Gulfstream would come out with set criteria and let everyone know, so good employees wouldn’t have to anguish. They haven’t because they are using this as an opportunity to get rid of whoever they want to. That’s the cold hard truth. This s—s
“Made pencils instead of airplanes” now that’s funny.
The problem is that the people who hired and promoted the bottom feeders are the same people deciding who gets RIF’d- and unfortunately incompetence and poor judgement seems to be very transferable to all facets of a job.
All employees, including the “good” ones have to suffer the anxiety of going through this and not knowing if, because they might have someone in management that has it out for them, they are on the list. That’s not a great place to work, and you are right, that’s why a lot of good talent is leaving
The problem with laying off via attrition is that the good employees are the ones who go 1st. There are A LOT of bottom feeders who are making tons of money with no marketable skills. GAC won’t fire them, so lay-off it is.
Seems to me that a hard prerequisite for even being a good place to work is relative job security and not facing layoffs every 3-5 years. I’d guess with the way things have been and are going, if they just slow down hiring, there would be a 20% reduction within a year, as a lot of people are leaving on their on accord. I would guess that only applies for the folks that are actually involved with airplanes in some way- not the people whose jobs wouldn’t change if Gulfstream made pencils instead of Airplanes. I think they are probably pretty happy.
The way the leaders have handled this certainly creates a toxic and hostile environment. Does anyone remember the “Great Place to Work” effort run by HR and “Leadership” a few years ago? I wonder how much was spent on that.
The company, making this announcement, then making employees wait to learn their fate instead of just getting on with it is a prime example of just how "good" leaders that they are. Doom and gloom aside, if your number comes up it is pretty gloomy.....
Good leadership does not result in RIFs. Period.
Is it just me or does anyone else miss Larry Flynn?
https://fortune.com/2019/09/23/repo-market-big-deal-400-billion-bailout-unnerving/
Since this the bailouts have been extended. Feds previously announced they fixed the problem after less than a week. Looks a lot like the recession 10 yrs ago.
Evidence of this oozes from the most disgusting parts of our markets. The feds are the only thing holding this thing up, and they are quickly loosing their grip. Once again wishing the best for everyone. Preserve your investments like the richest are before it's too late.