Thread regarding Bose layoffs

I remember selling to Bose back in the 90's, a fair amount of "over-confidence". The employees I dealt with knew more and better than anyone. Not atypical for a company that enjoys such success. I have seen/felt the same thing for the past six years at some of the Silicon Valley companies, and now we are starting to see them go down a similar path. At some point, ignoring the customer and competition catches up.

I was also a long-serving employee who remembers when Bose was an amazing place to work. The poor decision-chain dates back many years, to passing over David Wood as CEO. The gradual downward spiral really began then. From that point on it was one bad leader after another with no viable strategy or vision, and a complete willful disconnection from the market and the competition that eventually overtook Bose's position. When Bob Maresca admitted that the company paid no attention to the competition or their products because the prevailing wisdom was that Bose didn't follow trends or worry about what the other guy was doing, it confirmed what I always suspected and I knew the company was doomed. Despite his assurances of course-correction, I knew there was no way. Not with those "leaders". Not with that board. It was too late to try and play catch-up after more than a decade.

The other factor was its insular executive culture, which was as dysfunctional as its view of the market competition. Visionless incompetents were promoted almost constantly. How people like Colette rose to their positions is beyond comprehension. When they desperately needed fresh perspectives and ideas, they kept going back to the same well of contaminated standing water. And, anyone who was critical of what was going on, or who pointed out obviously bad strategies and failures was overtly told they were committing a "career limiting move". So, everybody just went along, blindly following terrible leaders who ultimately sank the ship. Well done!

Go to Marlborough! IPG Photonics need 400 good people. Great benefit package and company spirit. Reminds me of BOSE in the old days… the future belongs to the nimble. There is nothing nimble at Bose anymore. Control your own DESTINY!

It’s sad to see a long-standing, once successful company die. I agree with a lot of bad decisions along the way. I worked with those in San Luis after the sale, very difficult. The project team rushed to flip SAP in place for them to use, people’s jobs changed overnight and they were dumped into it without guidance. Malaysia was a bad decision and people key to that are still there. By Dr Bose gifting his college (because he was so appreciative), to guarantee them a perpetual gift, he doomed the company because once they get to a point of no return they would close to avoid any debt on the school. If anyone recalls the days of Digital Equipment- spending, spending but never making the much needed turn with the market to be able to survive. Very sad. Definitely a great market to find opportunities. Wish everyone the best.

I was with Bose for 13 years, and some of the poor decisions the company made, paved the way for where it is now.
The surround sound TV. When this was announced myself and quite a few coworkers were in shock at this decision. TV technology changes almost every year and to think that consumers would buy a 5k 42” TV, just showed the lack of market knowledge. I was standing next to my manager during this announcement and told him this was a mistake. He didn’t agree. When it was finally announced that we’re not going to make or sell them, I believe the total number sold was 5.
Building a manufacturing facility in Malaysia. This was the worst decision ever. When this was announced I told 3 of my closest buddies that in less than 5 years we would sell it. We should’ve outsourced the work to one of the many CM’s in Malaysia instead of spending millions on building a facility from scratch. And no I’m not playing Monday morning QB. More people felt the same way but were afraid to talk because it meant that the leadership didn’t know what they were doing. And here’s another example of money being wasted. The extra +/- 100k (not sure on the exact figure anymore) given to the architect to make our logo resemble a dragon. When this was presented, everyone in the conference room looked at each other in disbelief and started laughing. Every time I and many others visited the facility, the joke was “did you see the dragon yet?”
The millions spend on this facility could have been used in R&D and market analysis.

Dr. Bose signed the death certificate for Bose when he setup that myopic scheme to keep it private.

https://news.mit.edu/2011/bose-gift

That ki---d any chance of investment or acquisition. His ego was so big that he thought his company could survive on it’s own steam forever. Thank him for today and all the layoffs that have happened and will happen.

Brilliant engineer, foolish leader who was blinded by ego.

I remember the day collette announced retail was getting eliminated, she had a beautiful power point slide and announced it as if it was a business as usual, I still cannot believe she did that in such a harsh and transactional way. To work with landlords to get out of leases early too was harsh too. Nothing is off limits, plants, call center if you work here you have no safe department. It really is sad .

Bose was Dr Bose, once he passed the company we know and loved was no more. What has been happening is only a reflection of poor leadership

I had been a part of Bose for almost 17 years. I was affected by the overnight sale to Flex. We were made promises that nothing would change in terms of culture and behavior by senior level Bose personnel (we were concerned of Flex) . The first day the sale we went into culture shock, not Flex but by the way we were treated by Bose employees. I can tell you, a lot of the essence and values were non existent.

left shortly after...

I was an employee for over 20 years when I became a victim of layoffs 18 months ago. I was left puzzled because I saw so many good folks let go in that batch, while a few that had personal friendships with the leadership remained regardless of their performance or contributions. It was sad to see those decisions but that has only led to accelerating where things are today. Fortunately the good folks all landed other opportunities and have found a new home. Better Off Somewhere Else.

I worked for Bose for a very long time. Up until the 90's, everybody worked multiple jobs and was busy all the time. There were never enough people to do the required work. It was sometimes exhausting, but the comradery and sense of accomplishment was awesome. With the huge financial success of the 90's that started to change. The people and culture was still mostly there, but less as time passed. Additional layers of people were added and the corporate goals became less clear. By the time I departed there was vague goals of some sort of digital transformation. I still don't know what that meant. There is no doubt that there have been huge changes in this market space, but without a true visionary like Dr. Bose to lead. They are simply following what other companies are doing instead of leading as they once did.

Unfortunately, the people who actually got the work done are the people who got laid off while the people who have been part of the problem survive. I spent most of my adult life at Bose and loved the company dearly. The company desperately needs to flush most current management in order to survive. Nothing will change till this happens.

RIP Dr. Bose.

Stop complaining. Get your resume updated and get on LinkedIn and get your self in a better position. This is business. You’re not family. The company needs major restructuring of it will go out of business. No one knows what will happen but odds are not good. If you are keeping your skills current and you are good at your job you will be fine in this job market. If you spent your whole career at Bose then I assume you are going to enjoy the pension. I really hope people take some ownership of their own careers.

This is heartbreaking but not unexpected. Upper management has been disconnected from reality for a long time now and have run the company into the ground with poor decisions and choices. They are more concerned with their own wallets than helping the company thrive.

Hate to say it, but there is no future for Bose. The writing is on the wall and has been for a few years now. No more NFL partnership, barely any profitable products, every employee is just a number. If you're not part of this layoff, you will be eventually.

The good news is, the job market is hot (and the salaries out there are way better than what Bose is wiling to give)! There are so many opportunities all over the country. Get out there and start looking -- now.

So sorry to hear this is happening to my old colleagues. A little bit of positivity in what I’m sure is a stressful day/week. The job market is BOOMING. There is lots of opportunity out there with great companies who will pay you more with job security. I had fantastic coworkers at Bose but guess what….that’s not just a Bose thing. I work with phenomenal people at my new company too. You got this!

To anyone who is saying this is a good thing, shame on you. You are absolutely DELUSIONAL if you think Bose will turn around. To anyone who is still there, you need to leave. What on earth are you waiting for?! Let me say this again for the folks in the back….this company will not be turning around. This is a sinking ship. This is currently one of the hottest job markets in the history of the US.

Honestly, this is a GOOD thing. The company had so many layers, decisions could never be made quickly. Sounds like the biggest complainers are those with 20+ years. Having a new perspective is critical and while I am always sad to hear of these layoff, I look forward to the future of Bose.

I was with Bose for 37 years starting in the very early 80s. Yes the company is fundamentally different from when I joined and often decisions from afar are very difficult to understand or appreciate especially during a lay off but, it has been my experience that these difficult decisions are made to ensure the viability of the company and keeping what employees it can employed. No matter how you look at it, it's a hard pill to swallow.

Sorry, all. I was laid off a few years ago after my group was shut down. I guess the young CEO is reverting back to her McKinsey consultant days (When in doubt, layoffs). However, that's me observing from afar. What do you all think? Is she:

• In over her head
• Doing this in some calculated way for personal payoff
• Executing a bold/painful plan that may eventually get the company on track
• Something else

I sympathize as a former Bose person (15 yrs...my group was shut down in 2017). However, the overall job market is strong now so take heart that you can move on to bigger and better things.

Thank you for this thread and please keep it going! Working from home and being unable to gather together and share makes this so much more painful. Layoffs have happened so much over the years now, sending so many good friends out the door, that I am having PTSD symptoms and will seek counsel. I urge others having these feelings to do the same. Management is negative (lower than zero) help and just hides behind the WFH barriers they can easily manipulate.

It started already, seeing the effects already, - this company is dying and as long as the thoughts and approach of this company continues the way it is, the same will continue....

Bose is still a thing?

Started this morning

I empathize with your heartfelt sentiment, especially about the great people you worked with over the years. I had a similar experience at Bose, but I can safely say that Bose does not have a monopoly on great people.

So fret not because I suspect you’ll meet many of them once you do move on.

I heard that for software teams it's going to be tomorrow..

Any idea whether it started? I heard it is this week..

Amen. This round of cuts will shake us pretty badly as people will start to leave due to job insecurity.