Thread regarding Ford layoffs

HR represents the Company's interests, not the employees' interests. To save costs, the HR function should be eliminated. Let them outsource their duties. If not, the highest position in HR should be LL6 (for the entire Company).

@Z7yEbkq-1jro cool your roll - in 2008 a coworker was spouting the same sentiments you are spouting in a 9 am meeting. He was carrying on about how brilliant he was and how it was about time all the deadwood got cut. Little did he know that 4 hours later he would get laid off.

He was without employment for 19 months, lost a house, had struggles in his personal life. He is now still struggling to survive cobbling together short term consulting jobs.

The deadwood he was referring to? Still at Ford, some promoted a level or two. Still deadwood.

Here is the painful truth, the skill level at Fords sinks to the skills of the least competent. You can appear to be a super star at Fords relative to your peers, but outside Fords you will have troubles competing with true super stars.

@1jro Just because a company can do something doesn't mean they should. I understand this is the now 'normal' capitalistic way - cut off the arm to save the patient. This is what Ford is doing and many others but it can be done in a better, more humane way.

I escaped one toxic environment at another company to join Ford. Ford cut me loose last Wed after 2 years. I was told it was a great place to work. I was miserable at my previous job. So I went the agency route and took that leap of faith and joined Ford.

Now, the toxic environment I escaped from lasted 5 years and still continues to this day. Rumors were constantly swirling around of which most had some truth to them. Departments were gutted. Some were completely outsourced. For the latter, those who kept their jobs (for the short term) wound up training their cheaper replacements.

The employees would live in fear during the week waiting for that mysterious e-mail with no sender or agenda telling them to report to a certain room on Thursday or Friday. We quickly learned waht this e-mail meant. This was how the company handled their 'RIFs.' (Reduction in Force was their term for right sizing the company. Ford is using 'Smart Redesign.') This was the kiss of death. The Grim Reaper was there to escort you to the curb after the meeting. If you didn't get that e-mail you were able to relax a bit on Friday. You could enjoy your Saturday. When Sunday came you realized you had to return to that 5th level of hell on Monday to repeat the process. I saw many good workers sacrificed in the name of profits.

People were walking around like zombies. I heard that anti-depressant use rose. People were breaking down in hysterics in their cubes or bathroom. No one smiled anymore. It became the worst job I ever had.

It became the most toxic environment I ever worked. People started hoarding knowledge. People refused to train anyone on their jobs for fear they were training their replacement. People were quietly making others look bad to make themselves look good.

It also started with those with 25+ years of service because they made too much money. Or those 50 years or older. Or those that had to use their medical benefits. (The company was self-insured.) Or those that had a PIP (Personal Improvement Plan). Or a combination of all or some of the above. One person my my team had a trifecta of these. That was my walk-up call. I saw the writing on the wall. Eventually there was a bullet with my name on it. I decided I was going to leave on my terms. I left after 10 years.

They started with a decent compensation package of two weeks pay for every year of service. Then they capped it at 26 weeks. Then they stopped the severance package altogether. Now? All they do is give you a bad eval to get rd of you. Once you receive that there is nothing you can do but get your resume ready and start searching for a new job because you will be kicked to the curb. I have heard of stellar employees receiving above expectations or role model on their evals year after year and then mysteriously receive a needs improvement.

After each RIF, there was a huge all-hands meeting. Leadership would tell us the lay-off's were over, that we would have to focus and do our jobs and that the cuts were done. In another week, or two, or three, more RIFs came with another meeting with the same lies. Ad nauseum. The inside joke became: How do you know leadership is lying to you? Their lips are moving.

When I joined this company we were doing the jobs of 1 1/2 people. (They company had high expectations. We had a mandatory 45 hour work week. 50% of the employees probably worked closer to 60 hours each and every week.) As more and more people got released, that turned to 2 people. Then 3. All for the same compensation. You did it because you needed a job. You put up with it because you needed a job.

Will this happen at Ford? I don't have a crystal ball to say for certain. I will keep in touch with the friends I made their to see if it does.

To end, there is a quote I like by Martin Niemöller that I think applies to situations likes this:

"First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me."

Look up “at will” and “right to work” laws. Ford has air-tight legal authority to fire 10% of their salaried workforce next week which they will do. Leave if you don’t like the culture, CEO, work. Most don’t because they know they don’t have the skills to make half what they do freeloading off Ford.

Here's a !ink for those who are interested in what smart design is: https://www.bcg.com/publications/2016/people-organization-new-approach-organization-design.aspx. Explains the recent emphasis on corporate behaviors, Our Tuths...

The severance package is given to ensure that people sign away that right. This being said people who reached to the point to see mental health specialists out of the growing stress. May actually have no option but to do so

What litigation!

If you want the severance money then you have to sign the papers. There is no other way. So when the tap you on your shoulder and you know it’s your turn to sign the papers.

This sounds sensible and logical--sort of like waiting out a siege.

I figure HR & OGC have carefully optimized severance to get most to just sign and move on. Maybe not ideal, but they know most won’t want to hassle with litigation.

But we can only litigate if we don't sign the Waiver, right? Meaning, no severance package or benefits. How are we supposed to know what to do? We have what, up to 45 days to sign the Waiver and then 7 more days to rescind that decision, meaning we could litigate at that point, right? But the costs for us to hire lawyers and then not receiving any severance all in hopes of winning a case that I'm sure the Ford lawyers must have an airtight defense against losing seems almost hopeless. I feel so pressured already and I don't even know what the documents and statements read to us will be. I'm incredibly sure that with my age and service time that I will most definitely be let go, so the stress has been horrible. Can't eat or sleep and its really the uncertainty that is eating away at me. If I could only have known before this weekend began, I think I would be dealing with it a whole lot better already, but Tom Petty was right....the waiting is the hardest part.

Employees are waiting for the chips to fall prior to any litigation.