I am not satisfied with the way Ford has been managed lately. Due to bad management some of the most talented people have left, and some have been laid off. However, I still have a soft spot for this company, probably because I worked here for many years, fully dedicated to my job, which I loved. I know that despite everything, for many people it is not easy to make the decision to leave this place. Or is it?
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OP, employers are a two-way street. No matter your soft spot for this company, this company no longer has a soft spot for you. I'm sorry to put it that way but its true. The company wants to break up with you no matter how much you love it. So you can either move on of your own accord or wait for the divorce. Either way, its coming.
My daddy's Ford built some sh---y vehicles and sent the hourly jobs to Mexico. My grandaddy's Ford built some real stinkers, polluted like there was no tomorrow, and kept minorities and women 'in there place'.
There are thing to be unhappy about now but don't convince yourself the good old days were perfect.
This isn't your daddy's Ford. This is the Ford of shoddy quality, reneging on promises, letting people go to prop up the bottom line, and dreams of oodles of cash from data and subscriptions.
In other words, bankruptcy looming. Either that or a merger.
I can understand. Working at a company 30+ years you have a lot of good memories and so many great people that added to your knowledge and your life. People you trusted. Children, marriages, transfers in Ford, good management, poor management, dozens of positions, many different buildings to work in - long timers have a lot of history there. Met so many great Ford Australia, China, and UK folks I really liked. It will outweigh the last several years of the rotating charlatan CEOs, job downgrades, layoff mind games, then the outright shoving out the door when you hit certain milestones. Brought to you by the 'new thinkers'. A lot of capability got banned from Ford with the 'don't come back' clause we signed. But the good life at Ford is what I will choose to remember.
A fair sentiment by decent, loyal, hard-working and upstanding employees and citizens. But this company has no soft spot for folks like us or our children anymore. It is done with us and wants us replaced. Just as certain forces in this country/gov wants us replaced.
Something I noticed, Ford has a significant percentage of employees of Polish descendants, even though it is the case for almost all automotive companies in Michigan. (Michigan has a rather high percentage of population from Eastern Europe, after Canada) for almost entire span of 20th century, when communism took over the land in Asia, or Europe, people unwilling to put up with it ended up in Ford, or GM, Chrysler to a lesser extent, it is the same for white Russian emigre, or KMT fleeting CCP, automotive business is a good place for refugee, noticeably people like Zora Arkus-Duntov.
Despite what is happening now, (if you need to sue, don't drop the lawsuits) it doesn't undo anything in the history, good or bad. (probably Jews in Oak Park know it very well. Ford is extremely rarely driven in that community)
Are you one of the ones that Farley wants to get rid of? I have a soft spot for this company too…that spot is in the toilet!!!!!!!!
I have a good boss, a good team and really like my job. I'm not ready to retire. I realize I may not have a choice.
That is fine .The sweet spot will be replaced with anger once they push you down the drain!
I tend to agree. I was able to finish the last year of my undergrad once hired and Ford paid for my graduate degree several years later. I am retired now but there were a lot of very good people that I worked with along the way.
Additionally, my grandfather, a Polish immigrant worked at Highland Park Plant in the 20' shoveling coal. He used that money to start a store in Hamtramck. After he returned from WWII, my uncle received free training to become an electrician trained at a Ford facility. He never worked at Ford, but this trade provided a very good life for his family.
So many people who come to work for the company don't seem to have a good understanding of what they provided for this area over the last 110+ years. I agree, it isn't the same company it was 30 years, 20 years or even 5 years ago but that doesn't take away from what the company provided generations of people.
This is my connection with the company.
Are you out of your mind?