Thread regarding Ford layoffs

They are forcing organizations to force rank their employees lower, I've heard more than a quarter of the people have to be "low" ranking, regardless. It's mo--nic.

Ford need to revisit last 3 years of PRs - especially those promoted to LL5 and LL4 from the failed FNV4. This is where the real fun would be.

Would these g00fs be still so arrogant after being demoted by [-2, - 3] down and even fired ? Ohh, let's us close our eyes and forget the past. Don't look here , look there....because we told you so. It is a F clown show !!!

@eq LIES

Layoffs and PRs haven’t been linked recently.

Ford needs to get rid of all underperformers. All 10,000 of them.

@ed The message on the surface is fine. Underneath, it is intentionally troubling. Nothing to do with the company or anything discussed on this forum. There is a hidden layer, but let's just move past that portion. We are on the same page surface wise, let's move on

@cq

Who is offended here? Who is clutching pearls over this?

Oh that's right..no nepotism anywhere, anytime, for any one....check.

Guess you gotta act like you care at some point.

Stacked? More like slacked.

@cq yep, my team had this happen at the beginning of this year. The LL6 left and the LL5 picked one of his friends to be the new LL6 even though he isn't anywhere near as qualified as the old LL6

Yes. Forced/stacked rankings is happening.
60 percent of all employees will get one of the behavioral categories as NOT MET.

@cj He means when an employee in a leader level position leaves and a replacement is chosen, suggesting the process is not merit-based. That said, the original comment went further and slipped in a hidden innuendo that was both unwarranted and deeply offensive, but unfortunately not surprising..

What is LL rank backfill?

Suspect the "behaviors" ratings were expanded so the arbitrary high score of 72 would build more distance between min max scores. Knowing LL rank backfill and interview system is rigged combined bonuses reduced, the carrot to work harder has been removed. This system should join Jack Welch in the grave.

@bn The people you go to for protection? The dissonance is real. They can't even relate either!

@bn Extend that to institutions. Who is in the admissions?

@bk You can extend this beyond Michigan automotive and our adjacent ecosystems. Many cannot relate here. They can't really see. This is a complete miss. There is talent everywhere. You don't need to go far and wide. You just have to look. Pay attention. Look. Just open your eyes and see the people who are gate kept. Because there is nobody that can relate. The ones that can relate aren't in the position to bring them in either. Look. It is like the movie, "Pursuit of Happiness". We care about reading literacy, we care about our entrepreneurial ecosystem, jobs, healthcare etc. Why do we not care about our blessings? We do we block our blessings? We squander them. Weaken them. We don't look. Kids aren't reading because they aren't inspired. There are no heroes here for us. When we grow up, we see what happened to the heroes. We have fake heroes. Creating problems, and saving the day. That is not going to save our kids. Kids need people to look up to. Things happen organically. Unfortunately, no watchdogs exist to prevent people from getting in the way. Hurting our talent. Advocating for talent is non-existent, in fact, it becomes a bragging right when talent is taken advantage of unknowingly. Just ask yourself why?

It was always rigged.

I think one of the most disheartening parts of working at Ford Motor Company is the hiring process- especially when it comes to advocating for yourself during it and also afterward.

When I looked into the individuals involved in my own hiring, I was surprised to find that none of them had any engineering background or real understanding of my specific skill set. In fact, one of them only recently started taking a coding bootcamp, only years after being involved in hiring technical talent. This isn't meant as an attack on personal growth, but rather to highlight a serious gap in qualifications for such a critical function.

The result? No relatability. No technical alignment. And worse—an undercurrent of cynicism, sometimes even jealousy. It reminded me of a recent thread where someone admitted they’d never seen a “Mark Zuckerberg” at Ford. Of course not. When cynics like that are in charge of interviews (as they also mentioned), it tells you everything about how real tech talent is treated here. Instead of dismantling bias and subjectivity, they double down on it. Critical thinking? Absent.

Now extend that same mindset to HR, to “SpeakUp,” to the feedback loops meant to protect hard-working employees.. The system isn’t just flawed, it’s rigged to favor the status quo, even when it fails to recognize and retain actual talent. Engineering managers and tech anchors aren’t exempt either. Anyone unconventional, or "nutty" in the best way—true innovators—get crushed over peanuts. This is not a safe environment for talent.

This is exactly why companies like Meta are winning when it comes to hiring and keeping top-tier talent: their process is driven by merit and capability, not office politics or career-lore mythology. They’re hiring real builders, not legacy networkers who’ve coasted on connections.

I think Michigan automotive needs to wakeup personally. Those connections and old boys network is getting real old. It will doom these companies on the turnover. If you want to survive, it is time for accountability and humility. A real dominos, 'yeah our pizzas su-k' moment. Not one where you virtue signal saying the past is the past. Blue Oval anti-union campaign says 'trust the new us' if you go on the site. That is pure garbage and gives me no reason to trust you. The past is not the past. Go back and fix things you did.

In fact, anyone that says "trust the process" is trash. Take action. The right choices don't take long to think about, unless you're scheming.

Yup stacked ranking.
The ranking being how much your manager likes you.

You get stacked on that

@ba This is false, performance is fabricated here. If they don't like you, or you make enemies by advocating for yourself... they will mob against you and put you as the lowest. Even if you're the highest.

10 - 70 -20

10 (exceeds) is almost impossible, usually special projects or the latest popular projects

70 (met) is for those that do the actual work that holds up the company

20 (PIP) poor saps in the failing divisions or just dont do much. Gone soon.

Yes, they do what they call “calibration” to ensure the right distribution of ratings.

@ak this! Talent is not rewarded but targeted. Higher ups have no clue what they are doing. I’m sure they use force ranking because they pretty much just spin a wheel to determine performance.

Ford used forced ranking under Jacques Nassar. aka Jack the kn--e

Used A,B,C, ranking. Many were cut who were good employees.

Before Jack and when AM was the CEO Ford was considered a top place to work.

The steel case guy and Fartley have turned Ford into a joke.

You have to kiss everyone's fanny from the LL2 down to get job security. The only way to beat the FnF is to become a FnF member.

I'd you'd prefer to keep your pride then find another job. Ford is pretty much FnF or bust at this point.

There is forced ranking, and layoffs used to follow it (eg, 2008...."yeah I get why that guy's gone...."), but to me the Aug 22, June/July 23, and recent 350 were not tied to people you'd rank at the bottom.

Make sure to exceed the FnF objective. It is the only one that matters.

If you still have any "hope for this company", you're a lost cause.