Dear exited US Foods family members, It is with deep sympathy that I add this post. I am new to posting though I read this board a couple times each week. I had a horrible weekend just thinking about those of you that we lost. I wonder if the leaders of those departments that lost coworkers also had a rough weekend and postponed some activities to think and pray for all of you. I wonder if they talked to their family members at dinner or at a family meeting about how there are people that are hurting and asking them to pray for them or even do a volunteer activity together to make sure their kids grow up with empathy and kindness for those who are hurting. It seems the many RIFs at work are making even my department feel how bad these can be. I wonder if any of the executives or even our department leaders, who are well connected looked at the openings on Indeed or Linkedin and found openings and decided to call friends they know at those companies to tell them about one of our affected former employees to give them a better chance to recover? Or will they sit around and drink and watch the baseball or football playoffs or hang out with friends and laugh at a fancy dinner. My friends and in my and other departments all took time to do the considerate things above and are calling our friends at other companies starting today to see if they can be hired. We called our former associates to see how they are doing and plan to continue. Some were doing fine but most were terrified and not in a good place. Two of them were so angry and off that they said some scary things. We considered telling our security department but thankfully we read the articles and hearing of his interactions with others in our department, we do not have the feeling that the security department Vice President will know what to do. I wondered if he would just talk about it openly to everyone in the same way he has about other things going on in the company or with his previous employer. My friends and I have talked this morning and decided to check on the ones with the irrational or hostile reactions and try to get them talking about other considerations. We know you we all affected before the holidays and ask that you reach out to those you still know who are still here if you need anything. We might be able to help as friends with finding work or giving money or something. I know of one of you that cancelled a trip a week to visit your cancer stricken mom because you can't afford to now. We have gathered some money together and will call you today to send it to you to help you with those costs. We hope readers on here will do the same for those you know who are no longer with us. Those of us in Human Resources know the severances are small and the services that are being offered are not worth the paper they are written on. We will be there for you. I close by asking those still here to help your former colleagues. I also vow to join those on this board and do what ever I can internally to force our leaders to take action. I did not realize how helpless one can feel to hear scary reactions from former associates and feel like there isn't anything that you can do because you know the person responsible for dealing with those consequences is not a man of integrity and is in over his head. He had the nerve to talk to a friend of mine in another department and tell him how bad our Field Vice President was handling WPV incidents in the past and how she opines too much now when complaints surface when they have to work together on an incident. Telling our internal field leaders to just call him directly next time is not acceptable. You are now part of our Human Resources department and ask that you behave as such. We also vow to be more helpful on your needs in our regions and to help our associates inside to let them feel the US Foods that I have grown to love in the many years I have been here. This was suppose to be a short post but it is hard to contain my feelings of what is happening in our beloved US Foods.
43 replies (most recent on top)
My friend is doing even worse this season. We went over and brought food and some cash but he is still struggling and upset. Keep him in your thoughts.
@2jv It's been a while since I posted about my friend. He is doing worse than ever. I cannot and will not report him because he may just be sad and they haven't even handled Alabama yet. He is more into who we should call and not what to do when he gets the call. I have a feeling this is a communications or HR rep who wrote for me to tell some one. Why don't you use that energy on proving he can do anything to keep us safe. It has been months in Alabama and that is still a hot mess. I spoke to some one who knows. I will not sell my friend out when there isn't a reason or a solution to deal with it.
@2jv the second amendment will handle his friend. There is no fu--ing way he should call security. Those a--holes can’t even fix Alabama. We are all going to shut our mouths and handle it ourselves.
@1pn I know there is a loss of trust in Security, but if your friend starts making threats, you should give someone a heads-up. He could be on medication for his illness that makes him not himself especially when dealing with a layoff.
@1s2 nice note yes, but it won’t do any good. They just don’t give a sh-t and we have to recognize that .
@OP Fab note! To all that were laid off, you are thought of and wished the very best. You are and will always be family, even if our executives forgot that along the way.
Digitech are the nerds. A stupid name for IT remember? Only they could come up with such a stupid name.
Who is digitech?
@1pp Don't call HR or Security. They are one in the same now and it will get to the colonel and he won't do sh-t but talk sh-t about him to everyone. The 2nd Amendment is our motto until he is gone.
@1pt Digitech
@1pp What team was he in?
@1pn He sounds Psycho. Meanwhile I walked by a sleeping security man last night and right in the door from our parking lot. I do not have comfy feelings right now and no confidence that everything is being done to keep us safe.
I checked in on a friend who I worked with before he was laid off. He is very angry and acting very weird and gets more withdrawn every day and is saying some angry things that is nothing like he normally is. He was already very sick and hadn't told anyone but me and one of our managers two or three months back. He thinks his manager told his senior director and veep and they added him to the list. I told him but he is to mad to think with common sense right now. It's troubling! He was scared they would fire him and now that they have, when he loses his benefits, he is in serious trouble. His future really scares me. I hope you all keep him in your thoughts.
@1fa I read all of the posts and you are all right. I don't know why I asked for your patience without reading all of the posts. He seemed nice and very opinionated when I met him so I assumed the situation was not what it is. After reading all of those posts and the media articles on BP, it is best for him to find another place to start over and hopefully not lose the respect and trust of his peers. I will always enjoy the talks he and I had but I did not realize it was as sc--wed up as it is. I now have a better comprehension of the fears and distrust of our associates. I apologize to everyone for speaking without knowing and only desire the best for everyone. And of course, I hope for the best for even our security leader. It is not an easy transition coming from over 30 years of government positions and going to an very small guard service and then be given the keys to a team in the large corporate world. In all fairness we did Mr. F's son and BP a grave injustice by offering them positions they were not qualified for nor ready to do. For that, the HR or legal or the Director of Business or who ever hired them should all apologize for their grave mistake.
You beat me to answering those two incredibly stupid posts. The guy has sh-t for brains for trying to justify why Kernal Sanders is a bullsh-t artist.
@1f8 Quit asking. I for one will not. Are you drinking whisk-y? . You wrote your self that the response to your post was 'correct". So if the response to your post was correct, why does he deserve to work here? Cuz he's your friend? A veteran? That's a sh-t reason. Go post your bullsh-t somewhere else.
@1f6 You are correct in all you said. I was just asking to give him a chance. After all, he is a veteran and second amendment American. Do you want a lib ta-d to get the job next?
@1en You are either him or an employee on the Col Sanders team because none of that sh-t makes any fu--ing sense. The other posts say he went to Montgumery himself and told them what to do more than once and that is still a dumpster fire. There was another post about him being at some food show there was complaints about that. Do I have to go on? Every leader here expects things done yesterday. We are a corporate environment with hard charging employees. If he doesn't like the fire he can get out of the US Food kitchen and go back to the contract vendor company with low paid employees or to the cushy government job. Were the things he "dorked up" there and his blabbing about things he shouldn't his team's or his bosses' fault too? How about he try to shut his fu--ing mouth for once and leave the fu--ing excuses on the shelf and do your fu--ing job. If HR is pushing him to do more faster I am happy about that. It shows that someone must give a fu-k about us in the field. Let me spare HR the shock. Your pushing for excellence and speed won't work. HR can put lip stick on a pig but it is still a pig. I know you are trying to be cool with your friend and help him through the sh-t storms he creates every where he goes but FOOK him!
Give the man a break. From what he's been telling us, he was handed team members he never asked for. He had to work with contractors who he said were mostly drivers doing some executive security project. He said they committed too much money on that executive security project when there isn't the amount of need they think there is against our CEO. He likes the company they are using for the executive and special projects but his "internal choices" would be more qualified and better. He was handed a security guy who he says only knows assess control and security cameras. He also said he was given an AB or AP (I am not sure what that is) employee who is not what he would have hired but that operations seems to like him so he kept him on. He said he is going to get more to help on AB or AP or something like that. He said then he can bring some of his folks. So let's be fair to him. He is being forced to run without his choices and he said it was originally done by legal and now the same from HR whom tie his hands. He told us they want the world on a silver platter and everything done yesterday. He said HR listened to him and tried to help give him help but that it was not the type of "folks and resources" that he proposed. So let's be fair and maybe the problem is our Head of HR for not letting him spread his wings his way. He says his new boss does everything the CEO wants instead of listening to him on the right way to do things. So I am coming out to share his reason's for the failures and ask for your patience and understanding. He is trying and even recently moved closer to where some important people are so let's try to be understanding of my new friend. Things are bad, I welcome that belief. But it is not his fault.
@1dq Ugh, that is heartbreaking! Do our HR teams or their former direct reports check in on all laid off people once a week or month to see how they are doing and if they need anything? That was something we did at a competitor before coming here.
Also, these layoffs were the result of poor sales. why is our CMO still here. She shares blame and should take accountability. I did the research and this is a US Foods problem, not an industry problem. I looked up the numbers and reviewed the marketing strategy for the successful companies and they have catchy and creative marketing. We are stuck in the stone age with ours? If we are going to have accountability, why is she and her ineffective ads still here?
And I never thought about that either. If something happens because of those layoffs, our garbage security / or lack there of / may put us all at harm. That thought had not entered my mind until now. Maybe he already talked to building bosses to tell them how to prepare each USF location but I went in yesterday and doors are still propped and where they are not, people are still opening doors for others and letting anyone in. That is not a staffing problem. That is a lack of leadership and direction problem. I am married to the security Executive Director at a large global company in the Chicagoland area and he said the security Vice President here is asleep at the wheel. Should I consider bringing a g-n for my protection when I have to come to the building? I can't trust our team so maybe that is my only recourse. I would ask why the person that wrote the previous post didn't call to report what his friend was saying just in case but reading and having met our security Vice President, I would not have either. Kudos to you for your kindness. It may have stopped something bad in its tracks.
SORRY, I will get off my soap box but I am very worried for all of us.
@1dp I understand. One of mine was planning revenge. I will leave it at that. I talked him down and told him he did not want to go to jail over something stupid and now I am helping him find a job quickly before he loses his ability to pay his mortgage. I redid his resume and am going places with him to keep him calm. He lost his bride to be too whose family forced her since he was "unemployed". He seems better now and I will stay with him until he finds something quickly. These were our brothers and sisters a couple of months back. Let's keep them in our mind and check in with them and maybe take them to dinner or give them 50 bucks or more to help. I gave my friend a grand which seemed to show him that not everyone at US Foods was bad and we did care. He did make me think because all of the talk on our joke security on this board. It didn't really hit me on how bad of a gap that is until he said "it wouldn't be difficult with our su-kass security". Now he doesn't even talk about those kind of things. He is just thankful someone cared and is helping him. Bless them all.
Today I spoke to a friend who was laid off and his wife and children left him. This was his second lay off after being let go from Sears decades ago when they merged with Kmart. His wife could not handle the fear because they care for a special needs girl and they were not going able to pay for her treatments and sessions. He is completely devastated. Sometimes people forget the hurt we cause our employees when they lose a job, to many it is more than a job. It was tough to save money because the sessions came out of pocket and he threw everything at the success of his daughter. Now he is in a dark spot. Doesn't know whether to blame her, or himself, or the company but he lost it all this weekend. Where we worked hired some people before the cutbacks and he wondered why he couldn't have been cross trained. He said, I am a damn good worker and will pick up trash if I have to for his family. He was very happy at US Foods. Now he is in a very dark place and saying some really scary things that just aren't him. Bless everyone during these difficult times. He is hurting and hopefully he won't lash out towards us.
@yb YES!!!!!! I am former Sysco too and I regret leaving so much. I left to save drive time but I would drive that commute again if I could go back. The HR here will hire crazy criminals with convictions in rapes, battery, mu---r convictions and prison time and other scary crimes. The fact that we hired a "dirty cop" to head security surprises no one here because they hire criminals. HR says they won't do it for "customer contact" employees like our drivers but that is not true. I can name two that I know that are drivers in my distribution center that are going to customer places to deliver who have terrible and dangerous convictions and prison time. Sysco had none of that in our work places or drivers and not in the other customer contact jobs either. And lets say US Foods made sure convicts weren't allowed to deliver. What would that say to us? That they understand the fear and possible dangers that convicts bring to a customer but don't care the same for us working next to them every day here in the DC? I would understand if we had a good security exec but our leader and his posses are the worst. Just look at Montgomery.
I worked for the company that we will bee merging with. Everything was the same over there even thou our US Foods nightmares in security and marketing are far worse here.
DItto. I didn't realize there were that many of us here. I made a mistake leaving Sysco to save a 30 minute drive to work. US Foods is sh-t. I wish I could go back to Sysco but my hiring manager at the time and HR asked me not to give 2 week notice because they needed me right away. I did what they asked and now I can never go back. I HATE myself because now I work with gang bangers and our security guards barely speak english and sleep at work. I called a security VP and he told me he isn't responsible for the security here and to talk to my managers. Does that make any sense to any of you? I told him the work ID cards and locks to the doors don't work and that doors don't lock and he said to tell that to my managers or call maintenance. I then said what if I can tell him about thefts happening here with two of the drivers and he said he is new to US Foods and has no help so he can't do much much now but he would get back with me. That was a few months ago and I left him my number and told him to call me when he is ready to talk and I will tell him how they are doing it. He never called me back again. The Sysco VP wouldve asked questions and called me. Our security here is fu---d up FAR beyond my Sysco Security VP. l
Ha ha ha. ME TOO. All those were bad at my Sysco region and I remember that we did not respect our security VP there neither because he was that lousy. I used to think the employees were being racist but when we had an problem and I spoke to him and he didn't know what to do, I knew it was a d-mb fu-k problem not a racist problem because of what he was. HR was better at Sysco and didn't hire sc-m like they do here.
@x0 ME TOO. And I think anyone that has worked both companies would agree to what y'all are saying. Good screening of new employees, better facilities and equipment/forklifts, better security cuz we trusted them but like here they did drop the ball on sh-t and everyone made fun of the security and safety VP there cuz of it, good safety cuz we don't have even yellow walk lines in my DC but not as good as other places I have worked, etc. We have good customers. I cannot believe they come on here and help us. Thank y'all. Every one of y'all count.
This must be the ME TOO movement. bahahaha. I worked for Sysco too and we had better safety and HR folkes there than we do at US Foods. Syscos securety is just as bad as ours except their dude is not a sl-------l like ours. Everything else is the about the same except we kick a-s when there are emergencies here as US Foods. Sysco tries to figure sh-t out with their securety team and here we have people to help with that who bailed our a-s out out here.
So I can tell you the difference from a slightly different perspective from the previous poster. I was US Foods and now I am Sysco. Our security VP here sounds to be as bad as security as the new one at US Foods. The difference is ours can be trusted and isn't crooked. Our executives wouldn't have hired him here at Sysco with his past. Our facilities are wide open too and when something illegal happens, our HR teams handle it with our Ops leads. Our security VP doesn't have the confidence of our workers either but they do think he is a nice guy so they still "reports incidents". Like the previous poster said-the incidents are less here and they are. The workers here are better class and have a clean background history. The large number of thefts & violence & s-xual harrassment are much less because the pedigree of our workforce is better. Our security team here do theft work some times but cannot prevent it from happening. They don't know how to stop it. They also cant prevent other illegal activity. They just respond to sh-t but don't know how to stop it. The truth is they are fu---d up too. But not nearly as terrible as your security. The safety &marketing / sales is way way way way better than US Foods as well. Our VP of Security told me that your security VP calls him for advise when I told him what I had been reading here.. If that is true, the blind are leading the blind. Before working for US Foods and now Sysco, I worked for a transportation company with great security so I know what it looks like. But the sh-t at US Foods is worse. You have a "dirty" security guy & criminals everywhere. And your executives could give two sh--s. That is why I left.
I used to work at Sysco and we didn’t have scary prison people working with us like we do here. The security su-ked there too and we had a security VP there that didn’t know what the fu-k he was doing either but he was just lost and not both lost and a big mouth who is dirty like we do. Sysco executives would run his a-s off it he was both. It’s scary here when people get in arguments and fights. No one dares tell anyone. We are afraid of the former convicts that we work with here and the security fraud that we have who doesn’t know what the fu-k to do. When I read about Montgemery still being fu---d up, I knew us in other markets were fu---d too. We really are fu---d up and it is a damn shame.
Y’all are really fu---d up. If you want to go to a professional company that takes care of its employees and puts them and the customer first, come on over to Sysco. I have to be honest that our security team is weak too but we hire good people in our distribution centers so we don’t have the problems you have.
Please do check in. Those are the ones we are worried about. It is even worse cuz we have no real security. .
@cb Make sure to check in on him or her. That doesn't sound good. You have to check in to make sure he isn't going to hurt himself or anyone else. These hard times could bring some terrible ideas and feelings.
That is what I heard too.
It appears to have over 100 on the RIF lists and they include more than sales. I know the names on my list for the teams that I give HR assistance but cannot share those or else. Bless you all.
I have a friend that was laid off that is not doing good. After dinner and being dropped off at home tonight, I thought about the weird words and the blank and odd eyes and it is as if the eyes were there but no there was no thought. The entire night was odd, much different then our normal talks. The goodbye was as if we would never see each other again. That is how bad the people who were laid off are feeling. They are very hurt an not themselves.
Yeah me too. The alternative is complaining about what is wrong that they are doing and then getting laid off. You are both right. They are doing that and they are wrong but it is legal and we cannot prevent it crying so I am going to apply to field jobs and outside jobs.
I agree with both of you. I appreciate the other post saying we should apply to other jobs at US Foods before the shoe falls. I am going to try that. I can't afford to lose my time with the company and my job. Thank you for being honest Mr. or Mrs HR with a heart.
@bq thank you
@bp yes sorry it is an issue that these companies are getting rid of us and taking our jobs overseas. Why do you think those who have already gotten the ax are so upset? It’s because it’s extremely difficult to find another job currently. All the major corporations are eliminating Americans and giving the work to people overseas so where do we find work????