Feel free to speculate in this thread. Conspiracy theories allowed (and welcomed). We all know the official explanation why Ford is cutting (again) but wanted to see how we as a community here can be.
8 replies (most recent on top)
We had our departmental All Hands meeting last week, run by our LL5, with a swoop down appearance in the beginning from our LL4. They looked us right in the eyes and told us we would grow this year not shrink. It was so obvious they were lying. No one spoke up and challenged the statement or asked a question. You could feel the fear in the room. You could also see some of the employees grab onto the fake reassurances like a life raft. So sad. This place is a mess.
It is only for show. There are 323 external Ford job postings at present, many newly posted.
The stock price has not moved. The analysts all know it is bluster and BS.
When the round of layoffs is over Hatchet will send an email rallying the troops blowing smoke trying to make the remaining employees feel special and oh so valued Because they are the chosen ones. Some naive people will swallow it hook line and sinker, work countless uncompensated overtime, only to be canned in the next lay-off.
@aay reminds me of a documentary I saw about Bill Gates once. He said he always competed like Microsoft's back was against the wall. Microsoft was the world's most valuable tech company when he stepped down and no other company was close. There's nothing more dangerous than complacency and a sense of entitlement in these things. America needs to get out of the mindset of inherent superiority just because our grandparents kicked butt.
Competing with the rest of the auto industry with UAW unions is like fighting with both d---s tied behind your back. This is why every industry ends up outsourcing what they can to lower cost centers. They need the money so they don't have cut corners elsewhere. American manufacturing is already far inferior in semiconductors, TVs, phones, and the rest of high tech. The auto industry only exists because of high tech, regulatory dealership regimes, and a host of protectionist policy and sheer inertia. Look at Motorola, it invented the mobile phone in the 90s, and now it's Chinese owned. Intel invented semiconductors, and now it's lagging behind in process technology. Toyota long surpassed us on quality and cost control. America needs to stop acting like it's superior in anything, because the Chinese, Koreans, and Indians have an increasingly superior supply chain, and their manufacturing expertise starts getting trained from apprenticeships at a sixth the price from the time they are teenagers. Mexico graduates more electrical engineering college grads than we do. We have an inferior technological knowledge base, and we need to start acting like we're coming from behind, instead of entitled twats who deserve the largess living off the hard work of our forebears just because of an accident of where our mother's v----nas happened to be situated when we were born.
It goes back to the 2015 UAW deal:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-autos-uaw-study/gm-ford-fiat-chrysler-labor-costs-rise-in-new-pacts-study-idUSKCN0T92QV20151120
Ford's (and GM's) cost of labor per hour rose to $60/hr this year.
Hyundai's/VW's/Toyota's/Honda's/Nissan's/BMW's are all under $50/hr in their US manufacturing.
It’s the only card Furniture Boy knows how to play
Hackett wants a bigger bonus to feed his fat face. That's the real reason.
Five forces at play here: the Illuminati, Soros, new world order, the Freemasons and Putin.
All working together to steal the great blue oval.