Thread regarding Ford layoffs

That would be the reason Ford will soon be irrelevant. The companies that can adapt and spin on a dime will outperform a company that takes a year to do a 3 point turn, by the time the turn is complete the entire landscape has changed.
Good bye Ford, you had a good run.

It’s approaching the end of October, I can’t imagine Ford could identify who would be released, legally cross all the “T’s” and dot all the “I’s”, get all the paperwork ready and release people in less than two months. It takes longer than that for Ford to plan a large staff meeting or a holiday party. It took five months to plan SRD and that was fully run by a consulting firm. These are strange times so anything is possible but I can’t imagine ford moving that fast on anything.

@4oru+17v0nbIp- And I guess the very tragic piece of it is that they let people go amid a pandemic and rising sales/stock price.

That said, I'm not sure I fully agree with what you're saying. Wouldn't it be easier for them to do (another) massive reorg with everybody exiting by the end of the year? They have time to do it. Why try to reorg 2x within a 6 month period? I hope you're right though.

@3jel+17v0nbIp - really, let 10% of the workforce go in December? Cant recall when when that has ever happened. They might announce there would be cuts and reorg in December for 2021, but actually implement them? Many people start leaving a week before Christmas break, then you have nearly two weeks off for many people in US - that means they would be letting people go the middle of December. Think of the great publicity Ford would get!

Ford has never moved that fast before; moreover, that would destroy the Made For America ad campaign they have going on at the moment. Think everyone knows there will be involuntaries next year, so i’d be genuinely shocked if they let people go before Christmas. What I sense going on is the planning for reorg and cuts next year is going on now (my people leader alluded to that as much in a meeting earlier this week), and most of the cuts would take place either in first or 2nd qtr next year. I will grant this person one thing - with Farley coming on board and COVID histaria still in full bloom, we all could be for a shock.

Think about it this way...when Alan left in 2014 Ford. Had 187000 employees and was very profitable

Today Ford has 190000 and is not
Jim Farley will not waste this opportunity to make history tempered only by the Ford family but they did not stand in the way while Alan reduced headcount by almost 100k employees between 2006 and his departure

The word we got from our management is that the directors need to meet their headcount targets by Jan 1, so involuntary separations, if necessary, will take place in December.

On the Return to 10 meeting today, HR reminded everyone that Friday October 23 is the deadline to sign up for VIP. HR also said that there will be a communication sent out during the beginning of November about whether the 1,400 target was met or not...and if involuntaries are required. The timing of this leads me to believe that perhaps they are looking at wrapping EVERYTHING up by the end of the year, one way or another.

At this point I know that about 4% of our team has taken the offer with a least two more thinking about it. I've been in this situation several times over my work life. The only think I know from my experiences is that I'm not sure what to expect until it happens. Good Luck to All!

Earnings release is Wednesday, I'm pretty sure the analysts will ask about it on the call.

Take care on the applying for VIP / retirement and yanking it back
We had a women LL6 who did that multiple times.
Then one day she was gone - they let her go as a one off.
Spoke with her afterwards she was shocked that she was let go.
Not only that but the coworkers she thought had her back would not give references for her so she has not found another job.

I would suggest you day dream about messing with HR and management, but not actually do it.

In the meantime work on reducing your expenses. Having zero debt and low expenses means you can punch the retirement ticket early. Most material things do not make you any happier.

Yes, congratulations to poster @qpo+17v0nbIp. on calling it a day. Happy that you are in a position to retire - best of luck!

I can’t quite afford to retire yet, was planning to when I got 27 years in (5 more years), as I figure pension would by in solid enough spot at around half a million to allow me to walk away. No I feel like dead man walking as I was brought aboard on a new team/new area only to have it all go away with a reorg and currently have no real role or responsibilities.....literally have to go around begging for work. Plus during a bi-weekly team meeting, boss causally mentions the cascades from his boss then dropped a bomb about HR “things he could not discuss yet”. Least he was honest, I guess 🧐

Those of us that have been around, we all have the unmistakable feeling that cuts are being arranged now in all our areas as we sit and type today. Only question is when they will start to drop - 1st qtr or 2nd qtr in 2021. Someone suggested 4th qtr, but they will have enough to do with exiting all the people that took the VIP package,

I am not waiting around; my priority is re-skilling, learning/getting new skills, updating resume, and starting a soft job search now rather than later. Also will plan to put in for retirement first at end of Jan/Feb to plan my own exit if I survive into the new year. Who knows, maybe I can be passed over if I submit for retirement then yank it back within 90 days....what could they do if I was not on the cut list because they already thought I was going to retire? Put me back on the list again.....if so I’ll just collect severance, but at least I’d be able to get a laugh at their expense over it....

The internal pressure seems to be mounting, my boss was sick again last week with "stomach problems"

I saw the 1400 number in this article, but cannot find the actual Ford source. I also agree that no matter how many accept it, there will be another 10% reduction in 2021.

https://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/ford/2020/09/02/ford-jobs-retirement-program-workers/5689608002/

I have heard from two different sources. One said they made the 1400 target the second said they did not. As for the second part of the question. Will there be future reductions. The answer is yes. In the fall of 2018 our VP Jim Holland stood on stage for an all hands meeting with the HR rep. and came right out and said "Make No Mistake there will be a 25% HC task over the next three years worldwide". That statement applied to PD. If you look at future trends and products you will notice there are no major ICE or transmission programs.. and you may recall JF comment last week in the Huddle about platform reduction.. I have to assume that would be the Edge/Flex/MKT along with the already gone Fusion/MKZ. So what do you do with all those heads? Plus the company has two big launches going on right now F150 & Bronco followed by the Mach E.. So where do these people go after launch? Most of the OPD work is down in Mexico depending on commodity. Still would like to see the vision and plan?

Congratulations to the poster who decided to take the VIP offer. Sounds like everything fell into place for you. I love good news and don’t feel that we get enough of it!

Congratulations to the last poster and good look with your new chapter in life!

Curious if HR had made any comments (passively or otherwise) of how many people are taking this option? I know it's a long shot but thought I would ask anyway..

Just got a reminder email from HR about the Friday deadline for VIP. No mention of an extension or bump in the severance. After much thought and consideration, I have elected to accept the VIP offer. Taking the lump sum, rolling it into an IRA. Leaving a year or two earlier than originally planned. Spouse will still work, last kid is off the payroll, and a family business needs more attention so the timing is right, when factoring in the nine months severance. It’s been a quick 32.5 years and my overall experience with the company has been good. Let the golden years begin.

According to Life@Ford, severance is still capped at 9 months pay for 20 plus year. In fact, the severance scale looks the same as it did in 2008 and last year during SRD - it seems like it has stayed consistent for years. Can they change it sometime early in 2021 before the big dump? Of course - but if they did not during 2008 and last year, why would they do it now, Ford’s finances were way worse in 2008 than now....

For those counting on a the severance not eligible for VIP take a screen dump of the severance sliding scale. These have been known to change - read (decrease) prior to big reductions. They pulled this shenanigan in the herd cut.

Good luck you are going to need it in 2021.

^ I am a little worried to be honest. I just got my 1.5 years in full-time and I really enjoy the group I am in and getting laid off would really throw my world upside down. We had a contractor from our group laid off about 6 months ago which was a really big shock because he was a great co-worker who had a ton of knowledge.

First off, thought the number was 1,400 - not 1,200. I have not heard a thing, not even from the rumor mill. Plus some troll posted last week they would be upping the offer to 15 months pay - which has not happened, yet either. Keep in mind the deadline to accept is the end of this week (Friday). So if it is this quiet usually means they are near the target or the offer fell with a big thud.
It really doesn’t matter anyway, as the way things are now seems Ford’s only usable strategy to return to 10 is to cut there way to it...so involuntary reductions will be coming in 2021. I am planning for that, and gaming various exit plans. Have no plans on leaving early and give up the severance package.
If Ford really wanted to do the right thing, the VIP package offered should have be at a minimum one year pay, ideally 18 months. Hard to convince people to leave (unless they were already thinking about actually retire at end of 2020 anyway) when their own employment assistance firm, Right Management, is forecasting 10% unemployment thru 2021....who in their right mind aged late 40’s to middle 50’s would leave under these circumstances? Better to work even to end of 1st qtr 2021 then collect severance package ad that would give someone a year’s pay than to leave at end of 2020 with only 9 months’ pay.