Thread regarding 3M layoffs

We won’t be able to move forward till all the 30+ year dinos are removed (forcibly). They are dragging our progress. This co needs a gen y and z infusion badly.

It would be sucidial to conduct a survey in the midst of a major company restructuring

What we see now is a cumulative effect of the last 15 years. 10 years following McNerny, although stock prices were high, remember that 3M was borrowing money to buy back stocks. Then acquiring large companies which already had debt …. And more more wrong decisions.

Any independent survey done internally without the fear of repurcussions will show that maybe 20 % of employees have any faith or respect for upper management.

Perhaps even less.

OP nice post. You would have loved the 1950s to 1990s era at this company

Sorry dude - Vale and Cesena were minority hires.

Bill Brassy, you are really gonna blame black people for the fall of 3M?

OP I wish I could give your post 10 up arrows. Great perspective indeed.

I'm one of those lifers who started work in the mid 1980s and retired a few years ago. Morning coffee while reading a good book and watching the squirrels and birdies chow down on birdseed and peanuts is part of my relaxed routine these days.

I also have some perspective that parallels those who hired into to a company where lifetime employment was the unwritten rule.

You are right in the employees expected to give their lives (nights, weekends) in exchange for long-term security, good pay and benefits, and a lovely retirement with pension and retiree medical support (still pay some of the costs but very subsidized). I made this exchange while spending over two decades in manufacturing, over 35 years in all.

My perspective includes those who graduated and then went to work at other big companies with a lifetime employment philosophy as well as a friend who worked his whole career at the EPA.

Some chemical engineering classmates went to work for Dupont, others Dow, one the EPA. In the mid 1980s, we expected to work our full career there. The friend at the EPA made about 15 to 20 percent below the rest of us but rarely worked overtime. His direction seemed to come from the changing winds of politics. Democratic presidents meant more regulations to write. Republicans meant hold the line on any new rules and just manage the set already in place. He never worried about job security but also knew he would not get a pension since the Reagan-O'Neill reforms for social security changed the rules for new hires. They now had to pay for (and get paid back later) for SS but had no pension.

The friends that worked for Dupont and Dow got a rude awakening in the 1990s. First Dupont then Dow had some big layoffs similar to what 3M is doing this year, 10 percent or more. Maximize shareholder value replaced employees are our most important asset. The companies seemed to be singularly focused on pleasing wall street, which led to leaders getting richly rewarded in good years but rarely held accountable for mistakes (lower level employees took the brunt instead). Long hours were still expected but the loyalty became a one-way street until after too many layoffs, people said sc--w loyalty. It's just about my team mates and my salary. Voluntary separation happened often when the job market was good.

Meanwhile, 3Mers through the 1990s could only look on and be happy 3M had not sacrificed loyal employees to kiss wall streets bu-t (yes Imation happened which was bad for that group) but the rest of the people were happy to be working for one of the best.

3M was still doing well profitably though the stock price lagged in the late 1990s because it was a no frills place to WS. Keep the customers and employees happy was a winning strategy and pay good dividends. Meanwhile wall street went goo goo eyes over dot coms and Enrons. Pressure mounted on 3M to keep up with the Joneses.

This is what started the beginning of the end. GE managers were treated in the business world likes gods. 3M jumped the shark after a great 100 years and hired Mcnerney after he lost the battle to replace Jack Welch. He slashed a lot of people and also starved 3Ms bread and butter, R&D, for 5 years, setting into motion the death march that Inge accelerated and Roman added jet fuel to the bonfire.

I will say that the combo of M&M&M boys plus tireman really biggie sized the inequity and disparate treatment between the JG15 and up and the rest of the hard workers. Resentment was bad enough when I left but now the cynicism is worse than ever.

While I hate to see it, 3M really has no choice but to spin into several pieces. There simply isn't the money and certainly not the McKnight style leaders left to fix this tire fire.

For those let go and for those survivors picking up the work, keep your health and family at the forefront of everything you do. Don't think for a minute that the extra hours will make a difference to 3M. Work hard 8 to 430 but then get offline.

No trust whatsoever.

We lost strong executive leaders recently, namely Dr Vale, Dr Cesena, and Dr Hammes.

If they were people of color, they’d still be on the payroll.

It’s a travesty we still have our DEI executive on the payroll.

Is this a some sort signal to white men working in corporate America?

There is only one solution: multiple sources of income without disclosing anything you have going on. Be smart and treat these places as large corporations treat you. They are similar to religious cults, dont get brain washed and be in control of your own plan.