GE Digital lays off hundreds due to poor corporate management and constant “reorganization.” This comes after two other rounds of layoffs in 2019. Two years ago, GED decided to “regionalize,” building teams throughout the globe, while simultaneously laying off the entire Sales vertical saying other business units will push GED sales via BU to BU transactions. When this 2018 plan didn’t work, in 2020 they brought together Power, Manufacturing, and Oil & Gas verticals. These BU’s had been building their own Digital products and services in order to harbor their sales within the associated BU, rather than passing the projects to Digital. In the meantime, the org got a new CEO and has gone through the leadership shuffle three times in just the past year: new VP’s, new senior/executive band positions, with not a single new name nor one person promoted based on merit. This leaves the employees who do the actual work alienated, and as targets for layoffs to support corporate greed. This week hundreds more were announced to be laid off from the business at locations throughout the US. Also business-wide, two weeks ago annual 3-4% raises were frozen indefinitely and any hiring from outside the organization is frozen. Invaluable talent is being lost, impacting customers as they see streaming new faces and don’t get the support they need. Product is also affected as needed changes do not happen and rival companies offer better, evolved solutions. If one seeks to understand how management red tape and lack of strategy can strangle its own culture and plummet sales, this would make a good business case study. GE Digital was once successful in 2016 and 2017, but like other GE cases, their eyes got too wide and the glory hound expanded with no strategy nor stability. The hugely internally-focused organization has become its own worst enemy.
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Great observations re adoption in power. Do you think the digital power leadership is even capable of understanding your post ?
The implementation along with adoption of reliability software like APM requires a great expensive for the customer to realize value. The O&G industry realized the value of RBI maintenance years ago and invested in reliability standards. Unfortunately the power industry is just at that realization today therefore not equipped to implement a change to their fundamental M&R structure.
Right, the internal view became quite skeptical quickly
I recall the idea was becoming the "Apple of the industrial internet'. Even if that was possible to do, GE Digital never had the people to pull it off. Internally, the effort was written off as a joke within months of inception. Once folks saw that Predix was mostly goofy dashboards, it lost mindshare and should have. been k–led.
Theranos?
Yes, lots of good people at GE but fewer at GED. Not sure Xerox is the right comparison. Maybe something more like "Bad Blood"....
I was there at GE Digital in 2016 and it was set up wrong from the start. It was inward looking, focused on GE BUs rather than the outside world. It had no M2M pillar. It focused on hiring lots of mediocre people rather than the 10 to 20 top engineers that would build a modern platform. And it had a boob running the show. So it was sadly a series of mistakes that slowly and inexorably led to a train wreck of epic proportions. A book should be written on this just like the book on how Xerox fumbled the future. GE did its own version of fumbling the future. Sad. Lots of good people at GE.
Not sure on timing - one of the key issues will be if the slide in power digital can be mitigated in any timeframe. What happened to the stories on how Predix will revolutionize renewables, etc - pretty comical look back...
Realistically 90
The timeframe to liquidity isnt realistic. Need to figure out how many days this securitycan survive vs poential risk/retn
Anything before 4Q would be a surprise
Any idea when the next round will be?
Maybe hold off on those questions until next round completed
Can we return to the question asked earlier and not really answered - "who is in and who is out"?
jump or be Pushed!!!!!!!!!!
time for the rats to leave the sinking ship! I left and said good riddance and my wife's business was formerly GE Energy (sold to ABB) is thankful they are no longer GE.
More aviation cuts - simply more there to cut from. Need to further reduce expenses at GED - quickly
Really, is that the strategy - keep mgmt in SR and outsource as much else as possible? Sounds like that could be a winning play...
yes NOLA. This business just needs to scale back to SR and reduce all the satellite people.
unplugged? more like nuked
NOLA unplugged...
Sorry GED team, end of line is near
Blood Bath across the Board GE is dead
Digital has been crushed and support with in digital is being outsourced. GE’s plan is to outsource as much as possible and let the FTE’s go. Unless your a SR leader
Maybe instead of focus on who's out - focus instead on who (little) is left; probably 50% of what it is now...
So is anyone going the "who is out" question below ?
3 RIFs in a year for Healthcare I.T. org. heard that this last one abt two weeks ago affected abt 200 people. some good hard working folks that stayed on the sinking ship for too long. hope that ones remaining stay alert and take care. for those that have about two more weeks or so on the payroll, i pray that you can find a job in the near future.
GE Healthcare I.T. management took a turn for the worst several years ago and they have slowly been losing business for 5 or more years. They cannot innovate. They use to buy businesses and then slap the Logo on it. I am referring to the PACS IW product that was great.. that is until GE took it over and buried it.
Not sure what can really save them.
Byrne’s correct move would’ve been to RIF himself and his (non) leadership team.
yup here comes a wave...
I was notified yesterday meeting with HR Thursday because we’re currently WFH
Has anyone with GED received notification or a last minute meeting request from HR?
Layoffs have begun Corporate, Capital Aviation and Digital they need to cut 200 million this year. Employees have begun to be notified.
There will be more reductions perhaps even drastic ones. GE focus on aviation to lead the turn around turned out not to be the right bet. Not sure a digital experiment can be funded....
Who is out?
@qhb+14vnyDBL Are we to expect more layoffs this week? Does anyone have any insight?
Good move by Byrne however his team will be challenged by commercial reality.
I have to say I am satisfied with the RIFs that were completed. Gives me hope for Byrne and his SR LT cleaning out the mess of VPs reporting to VPs and extra cost in SR. Mostly a Power Digital thing, since they also have 2 Chief Commerical people who are VPs.
“GE Digital was successful in 2016 and 2017”. I just about choked on my sandwich reading that. That is so very far from reality. It was a mirage, and we are now reaping what Ruh sowed. I held out some shallow hope for Byrne, but he has nothing to offer. Empty shell.
I think layoff's are overblown , the government will pay GE to keep all employees on payroll, just wait you will see !
Just like Covid-19, its a Hoax. The leader says so.
You all must listen to the false news on all of the above subjects.
Rock on GE.
GE Healthcare already had a VRIP take place earlier this year. Those folks were done at the end of March. We are good for the rest of th year. Glad the reductions are over. Anyone guess as to what will happen in 2021. Maybe Digital reductions will be minimal and over soon if there is actions.
I would think the reductions in GE businesses are close to over, they do this every year and do it in the 1st Qtr.
No worries for 2020 now.
GE has had a restructure in play for months. Don't think just because you work for healthcare you won't be laid off. Don't assume you will be recalled if you have been laid off. GE is triming the fat.