Thread regarding Ford layoffs

There are a number of long term Ford employees who would have been eligible for a pension within the next year if they had not been SRD’d. Some of them are suing. It seems like “backfilling” SRD’d positions so soon after eliminating them will make it difficult for Ford to argue that eliminating these positions had nothing to do with preventing people from getting pensions.

@12nHg7go-8ocr it’s a puzzle.
Projects are failing, deadlines are missed, work is not getting done. Immediately after the SRD two youngsters with no relevant experience were hired as ‘backfill’. Then the realization that the remaining staff heavily depended on the SRD and had not the skills. External postings for two replacements were placed, and still not filled. In the end there was a plus 2 positions.
So it is a puzzle, one of those wooden puzzles a toddler can put together.

Michigan does have a defense industry. Both General Dynamics and BAE Systems are in the Warren / Sterling Hights areas. They are hiring.

I am happy to hear that people have moved forward with better careers. It’s Fords loss and someone else’s gain.

Question... why would your LL5 admit that she’s trying to replace the two who were SRD’d? Leadership claimed that SRD was for cost cutting and replacing them admits that it was not. Outward appearances implied that SRD was really about cutting people who were older or about to hit a pension milestone or earning higher salaries than their peers. Replacing those who were SRD makes it look like the goal was something other that cutting salary costs.

To @12nHg7go-8jmz, mind leaving any hints which defense industry...is it in Michigan?

I took a PRP last year and just started a new position in the defense industry. Got a 2 level promotion, $60k raise, $20k signing bonus, every other Friday off, and the expectation of working only 80 hours over two weeks. And the environment is calm and respectful.

Needless to say but I’m going to anyway. I’m happy I took the PRP.

Talent acquisition does no good if you can’t / won’t retain your best talent.
I listened to my IT LL5 complain for an hour today about how she could not find anyone qualified to replace the two senior level tech specialists she allowed to be SRDed. Everyone she found would not move to Michigan and wanted 30-50K more than she is making. I wanted to say no sxxx Sherlock, everyone knew those two were overworked, underpaid and under appreciated. But instead just nodded along and kept my trap shut.
She asked me if I thought the two were making more than her at their new jobs. Surely not, says I. But of course they are, and good for them!

Over the last few years I saw ford lose tech talent through PRP and SRD. Didn’t seem like they were desperate for tech talent then. Maybe those people didn’t have dogs.

These top execs are so out of sinc with the real world.
Recently they had a contest to “win lunch with a director”. Pure narcissism.
The prize should be to not have to have lunch with them!

Dog doo-doo would be a really good enhancement to the train station. This just keeps getting more ridiculous. Sell the Lions. Maybe you'll lure people into Detroit.

https://www.fastcompany.com/3038492/why-pets-in-the-workplace-may-not-be-as-great-as-you-thought

Current article, worth the copy and paste to read. Pets in the office are not a good thing.

That gives new meaning to dealing with a lot of $h!t at work. When dogs are in a familiar setting they know how to ask for a break but get confused in a large unfamiliar setting. I took my corgi, who is well trained, to a large store that allows dogs and he did a quick squat and dropped a mess in the store. I cleaned it up of course but the stink lingered. Others don’t want to deal with the lingering effects of that.

I was in an office yesterday that allows dogs. As I was departing, my host and I noticed a nasty odor in their lobby, the dog had done it's business on the nice carpet, in two places.

Great decisions! Dogs are smarter than the owners sometimes.

This is not a contemporary perk for modern technology workers. This is an assault on the professionalism, focus, diligence, and achievement as key attributes of the western enterprise. This is lowering of the bar, turning an office environment into a proverbial pigsty. An attempt, part of a larger pattern, to transform yet another storied American company into a grossly handicapped global underachiever. Death by thousand paper cuts.

There is too much competition in automotive, buyouts and takeovers will occur in the next downturn. Save your money that's all I can say.

Can't wait to bring my pittie to work! He's a total sweetie as long as you don't make any sudden moves.

I have had 9 dogs in my lifetime, yes I am old. Of those 9, only two would I have brought into an office environment. Those two would reliably stay where stationed and ignore other animals and people until released. Those two were happy go lucky Dogs that never quarreled with another animal or human. Having spent a lot of time at dog parks over the years, I would say maybe 10% of dogs are trained well enough to be in an office setting with other dogs.
That said, in some areas at Ford, most dogs are better trained than the employees. Heck my dog knows to not urinate on the floor, not bark and growl at others and to not touch others inappropriately.

CFO brings his dog to work and has a dog Walker type to take care of the dogs needs between mtgs probably a LL6 or LL5 who is paid big bucks to be the dog carer. Ridiculous situation !

I'm sure that will work out well for people allergic to dogs....

Bringing dogs to work could be managed in a business where people have offices. Offices with doors that can be closed if needed. I can’t imagine it working in an open office environment.

As someone who's not a dog person, this sounds awful. Is there anything more insufferable than a dog person who brings their dogs to inappropriate places, like, you know, an office?

I love my dogs and enjoy nothing more than spending time with dogs. But I’m not sure I’d be very productive with dogs running around. Making sure you know where your dog is and what it’s doing, taking it outside for breaks, playing with other dogs, watching where you step (accidents), etc... My dog gets so excited to play with other dogs and It’s fun to watch but I’m not sure I could focus on my work with all that going on.

What in the h*** are they thinking? First transitioning to an open office setting where everyone is walking around you to now having dogs running around. Are they intentionally trying to oust the people with allergies who are not going to get anything done because of their allergic reactions to having dogs running around?

History is repeating itself as they throw out the old timers. They tried this with one guy at the old FSIC building back in the 90s. They finally fired him.

Full article without paywall:

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/12/06/business/corporate-business/ford-letting-people-bring-dogs-work-bid-lure-tech-talent/#.Xep1quj7SUk

Until someone gets bitten....

It is absolute silliness . The current HR culture is to throw out everything the last 100+ years built, with utter contempt.