Basically, when I was hired in 1995, everyone told me that nobody ever gets laid off from Ford and my job was secure until retirement. Wow. How things have changed.
10 replies (most recent on top)
WOW, people are getting testy. We don’t know if OP is still working or retired. It is OK to talk about the old days. I like to talk about AM radio (which DF tried to ki-l). Coast to coast with Art Bell was one of my favorite programs.
Your 30 years are up time to retire!!!
Who gives a cr-p about the 90s? Much less ford in the 90s. So many weak minded FTE on this site. I started as a contractor or “temp employee” after the Great Recession. There has never been a thing called “job security” for me. all the insecurity and political games by leadership level at ford is embarrassing to be a part of. Everyone here is just trying to protect their own back. This is not a culture for good product development. Ford will only be as successful as the state allows it to be moving forward. Everyone at the top already knows that because they don’t have a clue on how to execute.
There were cuts toward the end of the 90's as the "Ford 2000" reorg kicked off. Then the bloodbath in the 2000's when the economy tanked.
People have amnesia when it comes to job security.
I retired a few years ago. Hired into the company in the late 80s. a totally different time. The group that left in the mid 90s due to Ford 2000 was a huge brain drain to the company with regards to product. In came Nassar and for those programs planned under Nasser forward would demonstrate that even up till today. Especially truck operations. they let people form car and powertrain come in and things go down hill. the explorer tanked in the mid 2000s with poor styling and possibly the Firestone issue. So last week I see an article where F-Series lost its top spot. Have fun trying to take that position back. especially given the management team that is in place. Sorry to say it but with in 8 years at this pace Ford as we know it will be gone. JF is not a car or product guy he proclaims to be. Never takes blame for anything like to delicate that....Sorry he is a loser. The board and the entire senior management team needs to be ousted
Another difference from the 90s is that people knew that they were not wanted and given a chance to transfer to another area if they could.
Now, they just tell you “your skills, abilities and knowledge are not what the company needs going forward” no matter how good your performance nor how many job openings there are for your specific skills and experience there are in other areas.
Those with 30+ years would walk around like zombies. They would be on a strict schedule of meetings, lunch, visiting friends cubes, etc. It was like a retirement home.
In 1995, the saying was "50 and out." Buyouts were offered, and, if you were 50 years old or older, and didn't take the buyout, things became very difficult for you until you retired. It was sad to see these folks, who didn't want to retire, see the devastation in their eyes.
The biggest change from 90's is not layoff. Ford did layoff in 70-80s. So today's layoff is not new.
The biggest change is layoff of top performers while the associated activities continue. This is a complete collapse of the value system that drives all the products excellence, innovation, etc.
it's like that old vampire movie
Fright Night for real