Thread regarding Ford layoffs

@4ayk+17kGiYAV

Yep, I'm doing that as well. I just sold and am lining up the moving truck as I write this. I have no intention of returning to the physical Dearborn location-sorry. I might entertain one time per 6 months or maybe possibly 1 time per quarter but that even sounds like a stretch at this point.

I'm not going to wait for 2021 only to become a casualty and not able to buy a place where I want to be. I certainly don't want to own a home in SE MI when Ford announces deeper cuts only to get caught in that dumpster fire of a real estate market. Note to self- don't sell when everybody else is selling.

All told, it will be interesting to see what Ford does with the I'm not returning to SE MI crowd, and I think they're under estimating these numbers. Will they SRD them and count them toward the totals? Will they send them a certified letter advising x days to return to the building on such and such schedule or be terminated a voluntary quit? Will they knuckle and allow them to work remotely? Like all good things Ford, they will keep you guessing to the end.

The truth is the Eband crowd does not want someone grounded technically up at that level. It represents too much disruption. They center their sphere of influence around people management, not leading or critical decision making. Thus why no decisions are ever made, just generalities that sit in the oven and the decision gets made outside of their guidance to P release a part. Honestly, it is a frustrating place to work for. People always want a strong leader; one that they can pull from their background. My only experience thus far has been LL6s or GSR8s who were passed over. You get to a LL5+ forget about it. They are so polished, almost like a commercial where they state the disclaimers in small fine print.

Meanwhile we are getting our teeth kicked in. Old business models, sinking money into old technology, etc. Trying to cover up our inability to adapt the business that makes money with businesses that will never make money. Someone put it in a past post: Wash, Rinse, Repeat. They all read from the same old playbook (Just like Michigan or Lions football). Frankly this company is Busch League at best. Gone are the days of leading; just about squeezing every penny out till it don't work. So do not expect great things, expect an existence and an inevitable exit at some point in the future. EVs are not going to save this company. That ship sailed ten years ago. We have so much catching up to do that with a saturated market place we have nothing that makes us stand out against Tesla.

Actually selling my house in SE MIchigna now, as well as a Florida rental to buy another house in Florada and relocate full timedown there by end of this November....and this was in process before they extended WH until end of JUne 2021.

It is hard to say what is going to happen with involuntray sepeartions in 2021; everytime in the past I thought I had it figured out the 'formula: they use to involutarily seperate someone, I find I am wrong.....so just not going to worry about it any more, because life at Ford moves on without any of us plus (as other have mentioned in past posts) there IS life after Ford, as well. Big reason for relocating is my wive's business went kaput during COVID restrictions in Michigan while in Florida it was not as restrictive (she works in the home design/renovation business) and business never really stopped down there like it did in Michigan.

Our plan always was to relocate to Florida (after youngest child finsihed middle school) taking the rental condo off the market and living in that instead. However, the real estate market in that part of Florida is just nuts, and we are going to make over $200,000 on the sale of the rental condo. It does pay to have a back up plan and have a way out.....don't ever get too comfortable and wrapped up in your day to day life and in one particular employer, as things can and do change fast nowadays. Always plan ahead, live below your means, and constantly be looking for your next company/job, and if you do that you will never be cut short or out of luck.

When I started, the theory was that you had to be technically proficient in your area before you could lead. Then all of a sudden I started getting non technical bosses (one was even a former high school english teacher) who were in charge of making technical decisions. Are you kidding me????? For the most part they were pleasant people but they were so far out of their element that they were rendered completely useless.

Hint to senior leadership: A couple of calculus classes and MBA does not make someone qualified to lead a bunch of engineers in PD.

@2rng+17kGiYAV
Unfortunately, the same philosophy remains regarding interchangeable LL6. It has been the source of many foolish decisions and expensive epic failures. It boggles the mind how the company does not understand something as fundamental as Knowledge and Skill trumps “management” .
It would be one thing if the LL6 and above had incredible people skills , motivated the work force and were able to tell who on their staff were blowhards and charlatans,,,, but alas that is not the case.

I had the same experience as LL6 where they tried to convince me to supervise a group for which I was not a good fit. I was told that because I said No, I would never become a LL5. I said fine by me.
Nearly every LL5 I worked for has been clueless. They changed LL6 positions every two years and in the end really only knew Ford processes and spent most of their time politicking for a promotion.
I had one LL5 who literally did not know how to access his email and refused to learn. A woman on our team was required to print all his email, then type the replies he wrote on the print outs. Just pathetic.

@2eqe You are describing me. I was part of the SRD in 2019. I kept my home in SE MI but had to work onsite at my new job in St. Louis, MO. The virus hit and I worked from my apt in MO, well, everyone worked offsite. Then I got word my mother had but a few weeks to live so I was allowed to work remote in MI. I have no intention of going back. I expect when the time comes and they order me back and I refuse, they will let me go. I can accept that because I am already looking for a new job.

@2uil+17kGiYAV

I actually believe there are quite a few who have relocated with no intentions of returning. Every time I turn around I talk to somebody in the UP, along Lake Michigan, in Florida, you name it. Still, Kumar spoke in the latest Return to 10 that they're working on a hybrid approach, and I also read a very recent article on CNBC about Ford determining the office of tomorrow.

Said Jennifer Kolstad- "We will create a new landscape of work somewhere in the middle,” said Ford’s Kolstad. And there will be “new non-negotiables” the Ford executive added.

She's talking about a hybrid approach in returning to the office. It's going to be interesting to see how they handle those who tell them they're not returning to SE MI. Are they going to issue ultimatums and follow on terminations? Is this speak and a ploy to convince those VIP eligible to take the package (i.e. take the package if you have no intentions of returning)? At the end of the day I don't see the value the hybrid approach adds- never know where you're going to be sitting, if those you truly need to see will be in the office in the same day, if you're going to come into working computer equipment, if you're come into a cube with a decent chair or any at all, etc, etc. The minute I for one get to my cube that doesn't have a monitor or whatever I'm going right back home.
It's not out of the question for them to expand the VIP offering by telling us to take it if we have no intentions of returning at all.

@2uil+17kGiYAV
In my years at Ford I have ALWAYS found it to be penny wise and pound foolish. ALWAYS.
10 years ago I wanted to order a whiteboard and post-its from the facilities as a standard (yeah, yeah, yeah .....even 10 years ago we had a version of Design Thinking, its not the invention of Jimbo hacker)
and my LL5 turned it down. Then you had a $16M dollar/year guy (JH) saying the same thing and everyone was like, yeah thats what we absolutely need! talk about people parrotting the management at ford...

About your point on LL6 job transfer - Absolutely right. I was an LL6 in a department that shall not be mentioned, and was once asked if I would manage a department nowhere close to my background. My then LL3 told me "see thats the thing" Once you are an LL6 you should be able to manage any team (and I quote) "OTHERWISE HR THINKS IT WAS A MISTAKE TO MAKE YOU AN LL6". WHAT?????!!!!!!!!!! I COULD NOT BELIEVE HE SAID THAT TO MY FACE. After a few years I realized talking like this is a norm at ford :(.........
thankfully they found someone else. But I was scarred forever. Now, I suspect it has changed to some extent, but dont really know for sure.....

Yes Ford is feeling their way to appropriate office buildings volume and layout. Which is smart.
Ford has also realized that some of their employees have relocated during the pandemic and that their game plan does not include returning to Metro Detroit.
Ford has also realized improved productivity from some employees
Ford has realized some employees are not producing.

The Ford debt level is insane though, and any misstep will have Ford begging Congress for money.

The 2019 North America cut was about getting rid of highly compensated employees with pensions. Which had inadvertent side effect of eliminating the top contributors. No real savings achieved when you have to Immediately hire replacements for the SRD. Yup that happened. Pound foolish.

2021 North America cuts should focus on non-performers, non-value add positions and ever bloating management structure. Chop the LL5s and also all the retired on the job LL6, and all the LL6 who do not have a clue about the jobs their staff are performing. A person with a background managing security guards has no place managing engineers. No matter who they golf and drink with. Just saying.

This one is simple. They are doing the thing that they have to do and they are able to do it. At the end of this there will be a significantly reduced number of required people for what we do. That is inevitable!

I can’t agree with the folks here who think it is just a matter of Ford following GM.

First, while 7000 or 10% of cuts were announced in 2029, in reality it was less than 1000 in US - Europe and South America took the brunt of it.

Secondly, Internally and publicly Ford has announced it is consolidating physical buildings- GM and FCA not so much. I believe as others do here part of the reason for extending the WFH until June 2021 is headcount reductions related, as in makes no sense to prepare new team seating charts and building assignments until the dust settles, especially if the reductions number in the 2,000 to 4,000 or mor range.

Now...it is even more guaranteed,,,,we need less and less workers here on site at dearborn....and more more at India office....its obvious that most CAE and IT work can go back to India...surprised that no higher ups have done the math yet....looks like they are using June 21 as enough time to make this SRD......without looking eye to eye.

I think its a lot simpler than that. GM announced their workforce is staying home until June 2021 a month ago and now Ford is following suit. Because as much as Farley likes to beat his chest and scream "F–K GM! I hate those guys!" in the press, he always ends up copying their strategy because he doesn't have a single original thought in his head.

Great news! I am so much more productive at home. I can actually get all my work done in 8 hour walk clock instead of 12 hours with all the nonsensical interruptions in the office.

I certainly hope Farley will use this opportunity to analyze who is actually doing work and who is not.
In IT it would be easy to align actual results with reported results.

Going back in history in
1999 we had 140 department staff and we were unable to get our work done as a large percentage were on the friends and family plan.
2001 =160. we had project Renaissance were we went out and hired experienced people who could do the job +20 =160. Most of the new blood worked out and actually breathed life into the department.
2008 =100 after voluntary and involuntary. We still had a lot of deadwood large and in charge
2012=140 our friends and family contingent had grown, and 70% of Renaissance hires had resigned out of frustration with the deadwood
2018=190 management went on a hiring spree for young inexperienced hires. More of the experienced resign out of frustration
2019=200. The most experienced and productive are SRD. Management hires double the amount of contractors as SRD.

The right size for the department is 80 qualified and productive employees. The closest we ever came to that was 2008 when we had 100.

Ford needs to fix this problem. In one department they could trim half the staff as most are on the friends and family plan.

I thought I read that the 2019 SRD resulted in the elimination of ~7000 salaried positions or ~10% of the workforce. I would expect 2021 to be the same. Working remote until June 2021 is similar to what FCA and GM are doing and I believe it to be unrelated to the headcount reduction.

@poc+17kGiYAV - no kidding! EnCase is constantly taking snapshots of all my open windows, stealing focus while I'm in the middle of type to the point it's impinging on productivity.

Not to mention, please be aware that ALL you do on Ford computer is tracked, and can and WILL be used against you when the time comes.
Be wise and use your home computer for anything non-ford.......

Yes, sounds as if they are preparing for less people not just not returning to a building to work, but letting go far more "knowledge workers" than they did in 2019.

Only wish I knew if they are going to also reduce the severence packages in 2021 - might help me make up my midnd if I should take the VIP offer or not....