Thread regarding Ford layoffs

This is nothing new.

What I have experienced is the design is taken for granted and everything is about how soon we can get the latest released parts. All launches now are about "revise your part and re-supply because we want this change now." Reminds me of what they say about the bitterness of poor quality lasting long after the sweetness of making schedule...

Great post, thank you. Bump

The root cause is that Ford leadership does not value technical expertise. They value generalists and narcissists (because people value their own traits above others). This has lead to an over abundance of ultracrepidarians influencing critical decisions. The youth see thru the ultracrepidarians and wrongly assume that they are the first to see. What they do not yet realize is that many others before them also saw and either left the company or drew the shutters awaiting a true leader to appear. Those who drew the shutters now feel they are in a cage awaiting retirement.
It is evident to all that the ultracrepidarians are floundering. Can we fit yet another culture change poster in the hallways? Meanwhile the work environment becomes increasingly toxic with everyone jocking for a do-nothing position.

https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2019/11/27/2020-lincoln-aviator-ford-explorer-problems/4156088002/

Articles like this have become too common. I wish they would stop trying to be “Mobility” and work on being the best quality vehicle manufacturer.

Not sure why or where some insults started here on older vs. younger workers, let's try to stay above that level here at Ford. I've worked at Ford for over three decades now and I'm very proud of the work I've done, where I have contributed, and thriving teams I helped on.
In my opinion Ford changed about 5 years ago and ceased to be the Ford I loved. Now it is riddled with inexperience, people appointed to positions that don't know what they're doing, and New Age business philosophy and jargon that isn't delivering results, or anything at all. I believe Ford should really strive to beat the best, highest quality auto makers, and hone or retool our processes until we can achieve that level. Until then all the name-calling and finger-pointing isn't accomplishing anything.

To the people pointing to decisions made 3-4 years ago as to where the quality problems are from.....Clearly you have very little real experience. If you had experience in PD and Quality you'd clearly know that the bulk of problems are driven by late design changes that are ill advised and not fully proven out before being rushed to launch. This is the train wreck happening on multiple programs right now. There are more problems coming that have yet to be announced that they are trying to keep quiet as they were driven by these extremely inexperienced people.

We need all ages and types of people to make the company great. “Boomers” have knowledge, experience and wisdom. They have experienced success and learned from their failures. They have contributed significantly to the company and young and not so young people can learn from them. Young people just starting out are full of knowledge and fresh ideas. I have been impressed with the FGCs that Ford has hired. We can learn from them as well. One of Ford’s strengths has always been that they value and respect all individuals. Let’s try to keep that going.

Not a Boomer but getting tired of seeing all the derogatory comments being thrown at that generation. Boomers helped build the company and were there to help lead it through the dark days of 2008. When the Boomers were there, we actually got bonuses and had the tag line of Quality is Job 1. Then we decided age is a number and we needed to get rid of them, consequently losing a lot of engineering competency. But yeah, keep bringing in the fresh faces with their crazy ideas. Maybe we will actually meet our bonus target some day...because we haven’t while Jimmy and his young guns have been in charge.

Wow. Why so bitter against what you perceive to be “boomers”. When someone asks a question or posts a comment you have no idea what their age or employment status might be. There are many young Ford employees who have questions or comments to add. It’s of concern that fellow employees have such bitter attitudes. One thing I can say about those “boomers”... most had rather positive attitudes.

Many years ago Ford had terrible quality. The issues were resolved and it took a number of years before reputation caught up with improved quality. What has changed now to cause such a decline in quality? I’m aware of the issues in many organizations. I also know there isn’t much love for Hackett. Is it because of changes in engineering, changes in the plants, outsourcing of design, the loss of experienced resources, a combination of these factors?

I've said this before.... Ford puts the 'k' in kwality!!