Just my observation. I know that a few colleagues have chosen to retire by the end of November (today). Usually, people who leave will send out a farewell email with contact information.
This time, however, many of those retiring did not send any farewell email, and instead chose simply disappear quietly.
I guess that after about 3 years working from home, any feeling about colleagues are fading. People simply do not give a sh-t about farewell. :-)
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@1lkj+1jX8fhCv So true! Spouse had to go thru with the blocking exercise with multiple people try to get free work and knowledge. Then later people trying to manipulate him to call the hotline and report leader behaviors for them. Then came the calls to help them find another job when their number was up and they got cut. The behind the scenes stories all come out then, lost respect for swaths of people upon hearing the gang/thug behaviors people went along with, and then were shocked when the gang later turned on them. Such is life at Ford.
Congrats to all the retirees! Enjoy your well deserved retirement!
I was told by a fellow Ford employee let go in August that their coworkers were told not to communicate with them anymore. I don't know if it has to do with pending lawsuits or not, but it's a cr---y thing to do to someone. Did anyone else get notified if a former employee didn't sign the waiver? BTW I was let go in August and it was crickets from my management (I did sign the waiver). I guess they saved that $200 lunch by firing me just prior to 30 years. I got lots of condolences from previous coworkers though.
I received several farewell emails and attended a few lunches. I thought it was nice and I am happy for everyone who retired.
Boy, glad i left before the shft hit the fan with covid. Good thing too, because I am a pureblood and wont wear a mask. Best decision i ever made. I always questioned all the travel to and from china and else where as to bring in a virus.
As to having retirement partys upon leaving it has to do with the caliber of your co-workers not upr management.
A recent graduate of the Ford SISP program (was let go in late April) I also elected to retire. I can tell you I did say goodbye to many people, but not everyone, and yes, some of them where om my own team.
Had nothing to do with WFH for the last 2.5 I did for Ford. Had more to do with the fact I was not close to some people nor worked with them much, so did not want "goodbye we'll miss you" just out of curtesy, wanted it to be genuine and real from someone I knew and had a connection with. And I'm sorry, but this would have been my same MO had I been in the office, would have refused a 'retirement/going away party" - I was polite and professional with just about everyone, but did not care to get to know everyone.
Moreover, I would like to reminder OP just because a bunch of people retired from your team did not mean they were happy about it, even if it was their choice and were not forced out like I was. They likely saw the handwriting on the way and realized if they stuck around much longer, even if they liked what they did, were good at it, and wanted to stay, they might not have a choice if they did not leave now - that is my main beef that I would not be so bitter had Ford offered me VSSP instead. Package of benefits is about the same, and outcome would have been the same, but at least I would have had a real choice, which is much better than a false choice of the SISP. In addition, the raising of government interest rates that last year has had an inverse/negative impact on pension payouts, so I'm sure many also felt they had to leave else they would be costing themselves $10,000's to $100,000 's of dollars if they had planned to retire in 2 to 5 years, anyway...also add to that the stress of having to find another job in your late 40's, 50's or early to mid 60's for those that still want to work, and you end up with a bunch of people not in the mood to celebrate what you might as well call a "forced" retirement.
@1zjl+1jX8fhCv, the farewell parties you attended were mostly likely for the LL4/ LL5 managers. Those joining parties were showing that they were buddies with those LL4, LL5 who are leaving.
I did not see any parties for those regular GSRs who are leaving.
A farewell lunch is the best you can get if you regular GSR.
@1nrz+1jX8fhCv "However, by taking that stand, I am making sure they will let me alone. The more "helpful" you are, the more they try to take advantage of you."
I wish I could upvote this a million times. After I left, I made the mistake of answering a call from someone that I worked with. I thought it was going to be a farewell call but it turned into a 30 minute technical consultation. Guy called me again the next week and went into more detail about a technical problem that he was experiencing and expected me to troubleshoot it for him. When I stopped answering his calls, he reached out to me via LinkedIn and Facebook. Needless to say I unfriended him and blocked all his calls. I feel bad because he was genuinely a nice guy and I considered him a work buddy. But it was obvious that he was being put up to it by the same LL5 and LL6s who gave me the boot. They just didn't have the foresight to plan a transition and document everything so they simply dumped all my responsibilities onto the new guy. If they need my help, they can hire me back as a contractor at triple or quadruple my hourly rate.
I don't know in which area you all work(ed), but there have been multiple after-hours retirement parties for the past few weeks in PT engineering that are fun and well attended.
Unless I am doing a personal favor to a buddy, and my buddies usually don't need me for that, I am not going to answer any technical question after being canned. If someone wants answers better start by paying me for my time and knowledge, and my rates are higher the shorter the term.
Of course, I am not expecting to be rehired as a contractor just to provide the answers the company needs. After all, that would be acknowledging they made a mistake by letting me go. However, by taking that stand, I am making sure they will let me alone. The more "helpful" you are, the more they try to take advantage of you.
@gvq+1jX8fhCv describes it as it is. Unless you were buddy buddy with the LL4 or higher all you get is a 15 min canned 1:1 meeting and a reminder to turn in your equipment. No thank you, not even a heads up to give you time to say goodtime to anyone else in your team. They'll ask you for your contact information, but that's specifically so that they can call you up to ask for free help if can't troubleshot or figure out why a system or equipment keeps malfunctioning.
Nope nothing to do with WFH, just resentment and demoralized moral. I remember when I was unceremoniously booted from Ford via 1:1 meeting notification. No thank you for your service, no congratulations, or appreciations for the years of hard work from the management. I was a vital team member in my group and department but no one that I worked with directly was consulted. I ended up getting text messages and calls for weeks afterwards asking me where everything was, how to use the equipment, as well as suppliers asking for an update. Sometimes it's better to just disappear and not leave behind any contact info lest your coworkers, LLs, or suppliers tries to hustle you for free technical help.
It seems to be related to poor leadership. Selfish self-centered LL6 and LL5.
When the LL5 trash talks all the GSRs and LL6s on a regular basis, of course people want nothing to do with a fake congrats on your retirement.
Everyone witnessed her blaming ex-employees for everything after they left Ford, so they know she will be doing the same to them shortly.
@OP. I don't think this is related to WFH. I have done it in another companies, and we still got together for lunch to say farewell to coworkers, no matter if retiring or moving on to another company.
I believe the issue is related with the low moral of the workforce, disenchanted with Bill Ford and his choices. Maybe with some shame included, as most people no longer want to work here.
I left the company a little over a year ago when my job was eliminated. I chose to retire. My retirement was hardly what I dreamed it would be when I started with the company 33 years before. Instead, it was a humiliating embarrassment. No one congratulated me or thanked me for all the years that I had contributed to the company's success. No one took me to lunch or offered me any remembrance of my time with Ford. Instead, I was told to turn in my equipment and hit the pavement. A zoom meeting was held in my department to say goodbye to the "class of 2021." If you were friends with the department manager, you were fussed over and good times were reminisced about. You were told how badly you would be missed. When my turn came, the manager read the script my LL6 had prepared about my time with the company. That was it. On to the next "graduate..."
Am I bitter? Nope. Just telling it like it is. The culture at Ford has gone nowhere but into the toilet since then. If no one is saying goodbye, there's probably nothing and no one worth saying goodbye to. These days, Ford is just a painful, dysfunction job. I couldn't imagine working there for the past year. Walking out that door today is the best thing that could happen to anyone.
CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE WHO GOT THEIR RETIREMENT FREEDOM TODAY!