The one-time event of laying off 500 folks and 7000 worldwide is not really the issue. Those folks will find other employment. What it does is create a ripple effect and send a shockwave through the company to 95% of the staff that works there about lack of job security. When is the next time the powers that be will decide to do this? Why even put in your all everyday if you have no stable floor to stand on? Working for a paycheck without a stable future is no way to live....it's like a disposable job. No better than working at a high-paying McDonalds where you can be let go over the slightest thing. The point is, you need the unwritten, unspoken agreement that if you contribute and meet job performance metrics, you will have a place to work tomorrow. This is not the case with any U.S. auto maker any longer. They did it to themselves. Then they try to hire indentured servants who can't leave out of fear of deportation (H1Bs) and wonder why U.S. workers jump ship so quickly to other companies.
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If you believe experience counts and loyalty will be rewarded, then the joke is on you, you've fallen for the bogus Ford corporate paternalism.
These companies rapidly hire without doing technical interviews.
There are plenty of companies that make candidates run grilling interview gauntlets, including tough technical interviews and you know what? Many of them treat their employees like c-ap and lay them off.
In other areas of the country you will see a large number of US companies view foreign workers as a security and Intellectual property theft risk and hire only American citizens.
I'd like to see a company like that, as I've never seen one before. Go to Silicon Valley and as an American you will find yourself in the minority at most firms.
I have found that there are well run companies that take a measured approach to hiring, taking their time to find the right employees. They even hire the right employees when they come along and there is no job opening, they make one. They quietly accumulate the best and brightest and treat them well. They rarely lay people off. These companies do not seek or need media attention.
I have found that there are badly run companies that hire any applicant to fill a slot before they lose it. Then they can’t / won’t fire the employee when they realize they made a bad choice. These companies rapidly hire without doing technical interviews. The interviews are behavioral interviews that anyone can scam and pass. The interview questions typically created by HR. These companies routinely feed stories to the media about how great they are.
Seek life outside of Michigan and you will see that not all companies are like the automotive companies. In other areas of the country you will see a large number of US companies view foreign workers as a security and Intellectual property theft risk and hire only American citizens. So stop with the blanket condemnation of all US companies, it simply is not true. Yes, many US companies are crumbling and acting irrationally and chasing diminishing returns. But not all are.
As someone in software product management that has worked at a new Fortune 500 company almost every year since 2011, all companies are like this. it will not get better. just get used to it. keep learning.
My experience is as follows: When companies are growing rapidly it's happy times. No layoffs, nice raises and bonuses. Free food and drinks. Frequent team building events, other perks, etc.
Then the big growth ends, and then come the layoffs, raises and bonuses only for top performers and the fun team building events end. Should you complain about not even getting a cost of living pay increase you are told that you're welcome to leave and find something better (literally, I have seen managers tell people just that).
Those "Best Places To Work" list makers will very quietly fall of said lists.
For : @ZiFqSvV-1myw. No not all companies are like this. I have worked at 18 companies. Only 2 were like this. Your statement would be true if you said “all poorly run companies are like this.”
Both companies I worked at that are like this spent more energy on bureacracy, silo building, CYA, churn and burn of H1Bs and general foolishness. They took their eye off of their core business and then continually scrambled to try to catch up with the competition, but kept getting further and further behind. You can identify these companies by proliferation of Culture and Values Posters in their corporate offices. If you see said posters when you interview at a company, decline any forthcoming offers of employment.
As someone in software product management that has worked at a new Fortune 500 company almost every year since 2011, all companies are like this. it will not get better. just get used to it. keep learning.
Thank you, @ZiFqSvV-cew for your reply and answers to my thoughts and questions.....
Ford global market share is 5.7 percent. Down from 12.3 percent 14 years ago. And it will fall more with the elimination of various product lines. How can anyone expect employment levels to grow for Ford when they continue to lose share? Ford is one oil crisis away from dead.
BTW, to poster @ZiFqSvV-xbn.
Yes, I have heard 6/18 (gee, another Tuesday, how could that be) is the next day for more cuts, at least in more than one IT areas. The targets are agency AND GSR's. The person I talked to, a surviving LL6, did not know areas for targets. However, he was helpful in that by his observations, these are the LL's he noticed being cut: many came from former AM support area teams, job sharing people, ICC/SCC areas, and former BITS. He did not observe a common pattern of age and/or years with company, as one of the people he knew was just made a LL6 and she was given the boot...and was a very high performer, too.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_history_of_the_United_States
Now tell me looking at this history how you have no control over your job. We nothing but minions now. I do realize competition is stiff in the auto industry, but in Europe, those employees are protected by their union. Here in the USA you have unemployment and no protection. It's really not far at all. I'll do anything to help my company but this is getting rediculus.
It's not just the Ford impacting Ford employees, either. My wife works for a tier one supplier to Ford, and they are conducting layoffs, as well, due to the lack of work coming from Ford they used to get.
I am sure as the year moves along, there will be other impacts to other companies and local economy, as those that were let go either curtail their purchases if they stick around the Metro Detroit area(even if they find jobs relatively soon) due to being spooked - or they leave all together. Many other businesses will be impacted by this event, now and for the next couple of years.
People keep saying it, you need to organize, something similar to a union. People complain and do nothing, no leaders among workers, only additude is every man for themselves. This will continue to happen until the workers/ workforce fights back.
Has anyone heard if June 18th is the next day of job cuts happening? Will it done the same way (get a meeting notice, have someone stop by your desk and ask 'Do you have a minute?' and then in a flash, a career is over? Has anyone heard what kinds of numbers this next round of cuts will be (whether June 18th or any other date)? Will this round focus more heavily on GSRs who are older, higher salaries with 25+ years of service and bigger pensions? Not knowing is just the very worst....