I've been at Ford for around eighteen months - should I worry about being laid off any time soon?
From what I understand, it's usually the older employees that are laid off to save on their pay and benefits that have accumulated over the years. Is this the case?
Get out now! You have already identified that the longer you stay at Ford the less valuable you are to other companies. Google, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft etc will not touch you now. Try explaining that with 3 years of IT experience you know how to update a spreadsheet. Any child in elementary school can do that.
As FCG I am closely watching this redesign.
If the people I admire are the people laid off then that tells me to move on pronto.
I am on my third rotation. First rotation: I sat for 18 months surfing the internet. I repeatedly asked for work, got nothing. Second rotation: I actually wrote and designed an app and my supervisor actively mentored me. Third rotation: I edit a spreadsheet biweekly and produce a report. I have repeatedly asked for more work and was told I had enough to do; really an hour of work every 80 hours? My current supervisor told me he only asked for FCG to make himself look good on his PR.
If my first and third supervisor survive the redesign and my second supervisor does not then that tells me to exit Ford. I am already questioning a career at Ford. I feel like I am already losing out as IT completely changes every year and here I am typing numbers into an excel spreadsheet.
I have also had three LL5. I was not impressed with any of them. Ludites each and every one. They were more interested in office gossip than project work.
You have every right to be worried for the rest of your career
That is how the industry has become...
Best advice is live your life...
Why do you want to work for Ford? There are so many other better companies out there. Do your homework and make your move if you want a better career.
Those that are still with Ford are because they have no skill set and experience. They have high seniority but useless skills and experience.
No one is safe. They have to target young and old alike to avoid age discrimination lawsuits. For what it is worth, I know several GSRs with <3 years who were let go.