I am hearing from multiple secondary sources that massive cuts (around 20%) will be coming to Sullivan Park and downtown mid-January . The stories are consistent, so I think they have merit. These substantial cuts will be part of a reorganization. If you think that you might be vulnerable, then now would be a good time to polish the resume. January 18th is a date that several people have mentioned.
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https://www.weny.com/story/50357385/corning-incorporated-lays-off-approximately-1000-workers-globally
400 laid off in the Corning Valley. A major blow after April 2023 lay-offs. Corning, Inc. is dying and is no longer a major employer in the Corning, NY area
It’s like a jenga game, Corning could easily take a few blocks off the top and the tower will still stand, yet they continue to pluck them off bottom. Sooner or later it will tumble
"Corning financially is doing well, healthy and strong. "
Yeah, as Disco Duck said this is cr-p. "shareholder maximization" is a debunked theory that has left a bunch of rich CEOs (and rich consultants) and bankrupted companies in its wake the last 40+ years. It is NOT a sign of a 'healthy & strong' company. (sort of like formerly illegal stock buybacks)
Corning froze pay for everyone except higher levels who still got (at least) bonuses. Corning cut headcount by ~20% during 2023. Corning cut exactly ZERO people above manager, making the imbalance worse than ever (Corning has always been incredibly top heavy)
None of this is the sign of a 'healthy & strong' company. Perhaps they have bought themselves leverage against a takeover, but the overall company is weak across the board - and even the stronger performing areas are being forced to do austerity in sympathy - which literally hurts businesses!
As Disco Duck said, it is time for major shake-ups at the top - execs are making division-crushing bad decisions with zero consequences. CPT is the most glaring recent example of failures that you can directly assign to names ... most of whom have been moved to the 'next bright shiny'
@Glass guru....I see. Thanks for the clarification.
Company’s financial health does not mean our salaries growth. As the top leadership team, their top responsibilities are investors. And rebalance the work force especially R&D (which are mostly expense), is being responsible for investors, therefore I say the company is still healthy and strong. Money saved by paying us less will maintain the investors and top leaders wealthy
"As leadership promised, there should be no more cut in 2023, and I am confident of this"
With mere hours remaining in 2023, the above comment carries no weight.
If, as @Glass guru states, "Corning financially is doing well, healthy and strong.", then why were our salaries frozen for 2023? "Financially strong" companies shouldn't have to sc--w their employees out of their annual cost-of-living adjustment in periods with the highest inflation in over 40 years.
Corning financially is doing well, healthy and strong. Although most of the bottom line business are facing some challenges, the company should have no problem maintaining stock market’s confidence by cost reduction approaches, such as laser focused research projects that can generate revenue in shorter terms, and optimization of staffing on research and development. As leadership promised, there should be no more cut in 2023, and I am confident of this
Folks, any more news?
Maybe it's time for Wendell's ouster? After all, his job is to steer the company towards profit & growth... and that's not what we see. Even if most of the bad decisions (e.g. CPT) were made by those below him, he is still ultimately responsible. That's why he gets that crazy big paycheck.
"Given how poorly the company is performing relative to the economy (we are not, after all, currently in a recession), maybe a director/VP clean-out is warranted? 5s some of those who made the bad decisions that put us where we are?."
All very true - and speaking casually with a colleague who is a director, there is definitely some thoughts that the 'new year bloodbath' will focus on rebalancing the worker & manager ranks.
They want to remove all union folks from CMoG, 34 people, in addition to Decker and A building (which are being vacated now).
After I did a bit more digging into this rumor I found this:
https://youtu.be/i_WEMCUhF0E
"Chatter today is 10% cuts happening the week of Jan. 15th."
While I don't put a lot of confidence in this chatter, I will point out that given how top heavy the company is right now, it would almost be possible to have a 10% company-wide cut that cleaned-out directors/VP's only and left anyone below that level unscathed. Given how poorly the company is performing relative to the economy (we are not, after all, currently in a recession), maybe a director/VP clean-out is warranted? 5s some of those who made the bad decisions that put us where we are?.
Chatter today is 10% cuts happening the week of Jan. 15th. Real estate consolidation with potential upsets for folks occupying space now.
Hearing MTE, research & support staff.
@Disco Duck - agreed, unless the financials are surprising (which I have not heard, indicators are 'on target'), the aforementioned 'bloodbath' seems unlikely. Speaking to senior manager/director last week, they haven't heard anything yet but their intelligence is more around thinning at their levels. As one said "I bring zero revenue, and with lower headcount it is hard to justify so many managers". We'll see.
Also - my rumor mill has more to do with how poorly the MAP concept is working.
Re: Decker - Valley residents got email last night/this morning confirming that Decker is closing except for the labs (which I think is temporary) along with A Building starting in January and continuing for the next several months. Makes sense - Decker is a non-revenue center filled with people who by their nature almost entirely work elsewhere, and was designed to be pretty, not efficient.
Everyone watching the absolute collapse of CPT can only wonder how they still justify keeping the lights on in the Big Flats facility.
After I did a bit more digging into this rumor I learned the following: The sources for this rumor have 2 things in common: (1). They are all at the bottom of the org chart. (2). They all seem to have heard it from each other. So, I now doubt the validity. Unfortunately, there is no means to retract my initial posting. However, I also heard that they are trying to sell the Decker building and move/consolidate the people in it. But it seems that this is already "common knowledge" and everyone (except Disco Duck) already knew that they are trying to sell the Decker building. That might come with a few minor cuts/reorg, but certainly not mass layoffs. It seems like people who would otherwise never talk to each other are very eager to share unsubstantiated rumors. Until a manager/director tells me otherwise, I am treating this rumor as BS.
When are the higher ups getting hit? I see retired director level and up coming back as blue badges all the while the people getting things done let go. Pays to be WW yes men and make bad business decisions just to please WW ego.
Speaking of TC meeting: They never give any info. They'd keep repeating the same corporate language even if there was a layoff tomorrow.
Particular directorates that are expected to hit hard? EIG & TC Communication meeting did not give much hint out besides next year expecting to be flat as well.
Also it is painful as no real good business unit to keep company bottom line from declining, while not much opportunity to use glass for more growth in the future. If any program got good funding, people will swarm into it and becoming extremely political
The main problem with Corning is its too middle and upper management heavy. An even bigger issue is they have entirely too many engineers. Watching engineers at Corning is like watching the DOT work, 10 guys standing around and 1 guy working. Yet if you work on the floor you constantly have to work short handed. Don't worry though the shareholders will get their money.
"MTE is still overcrowded, some of the passive directorates from MTE (including one who always says 'Digital Transformation' with heavy accent - I wonder how the guy got into this leadership..sigh) needs to be gone and the hardworking employees should stay..."
Aside from being incredibly racist, this is an absolute cr-p take.
If you look across all divisions in recent years, cost reductions, efficiency gains, increased profitability, quality improvements, capacity ramps, and so on ... ALL have relied on streamlining data collection, analysis and rapid cycles of learning. Sure 'Digital Transformation' is a buzzword (like Manufacturing 4.0 and others), but the fundamentals are absolutely essential to the future of the company.
Just because you don't understand what other people do doesn't mean they aren't hard working. 2023 has shown there is plenty of work to utilize all of MTE but not the budgets - which gets at a cyclical issue of the bizarre internal funny-money operations.
In a previous life I worked for a company that had quarterly layoffs in the 1st week after quarter close - they basically knew the results at that point so didn't have to wait for formal earnings call. (also, quarterly layoffs is a sign of management incompetence, but that is a different story)
I know of a bunch of people who have been given 'expiration dates' - some at year end and others between Jan-Feb. The ones I know don't amount to the 10-20% range, but definitely there are many fewer chairs than players in the game of musical chairs, and it looks like the music will stop in Q1.
"I am also skeptical because of the timing. Early January is not a common time for cuts. I think cuts usually come after a quarterly earnings call.."
Disco Duck, this is technically true. However, I do not believe the corporate has to wait for the post-quarterly earnings to make the cuts. Because, Corning cut had never hit a big headline in the news except COVID times (example...population under WW was down by 15-20% recently but anyone outside of Corning barely knows this).
On the other side, I was not able to confirm the validity of dates even if I hear rumors...
MTE is still overcrowded, some of the passive directorates from MTE (including one who always says 'Digital Transformation' with heavy accent - I wonder how the guy got into this leadership..sigh) needs to be gone and the hardworking employees should stay...
I have heard multiple variations of the same theme. Large cuts coming in January 2024. I’ve heard cuts will be staff level across the board. As for percentages, the numbers have been anywhere from 10-30%.
Regardless, there is something coming.
"I am also skeptical because of the timing. Early January is not a common time for cuts. I think cuts usually come after a quarterly earnings call.."
Disco Duck, this is technically true. However, I do not believe the corporate has to wait for the post-quarterly earnings to make the cuts. Because, Corning cut had never hit a big headline in the news except COVID times (example...population under WW was down by 15-20% recently but anyone outside of Corning barely knows this).
On the other side, I was not able to confirm the validity of dates even if I hear rumors...
MTE is still overcrowded, some of the passive directorates from MTE (including one who always says 'Digital Transformation' with heavy accent - I wonder how the guy got into this leadership..sigh) needs to be gone and the hardworking employees should stay...
Thank you for the news. Is it COC only or corporate wide? 20% I mean..
I am also skeptical because of the timing. Early January is not a common time for cuts. I think cuts usually come after a quarterly earnings call...so the cuts will benefit the stock price and offset any bad news. So, I am very curious if anyone else has heard of cuts coming in January.
I agree that it seems odd. We were told "no more cuts for 2023"...."we are at the right size now for the turnaround in 2Q2024"...etc. only to have big cuts merely 3 weeks into 2024. I am hearing that this one will reorganize to remove duplication and eliminate some top-heavy directorates (directors with few reports). It's only 6 weeks away so I will soon find out if my sources are feeding me B.S. If they are I will break their beaks!
Yeh but what about 2024?
I have no information supporting or refuting this. But sounds like leadership kept their words, no more layoff in 2023!
anyone else chime on the validity of this?