Thread regarding General Motors layoffs

"I have been at GM for 5 yrs"

That's all I needed to read. You poor soul, you have no idea how GM operates. You have a much more likely chance of being let go, than the individual you're complaining about.

You really need to reshape the way you look at things. You should always remember you are on the side of labor you are not an owner. It does you no good to bash people you see as "dead weight" and you really should stop all this pocket watching.

When GM can't afford to keep "dead weight" your value drops as well not the opposite. For example you are less likely to get a promotion when GM is doing all these layoffs hence your value is less to GM as represented by your pay. Let go of the idea that you are a necessary asset to GM and stop being a company man. We are all in the same boat during this process.

Anyone who believes GM is cutting to get rid of dead weight is buying into exactly what they want you to believe. They will paint it this way because it is in GM's best interest. Convincing those who stay that they are more valuable is a way to keep them working hard -- until they are too old, or too highly paid, in the right demographic, or not living in Mexico where they will work for $5 an hour.

Pretty naive if you think the 4000 are all deadweight. Karma has a way of hitting you at times like this when lawyers tell HR they need to round out their numbers in your area with someone in your demographic. I’ve been through this before. Make no mistake - they will be cutting into muscle, and it just might be yours because despite how you got ranked by your manager, you were exactly what the lawyers told HR they need.

A lot of young college hires are also dead weight when they spend more time on social media than doing their job. These individuals will be the next to go as they will be more noticeable when the experienced employees are no longer there to pick up the slack. It’s not about age and being cool but about what you bring or don’t bring to the table.

Life isn’t fair. Many good people will be cut. Many in jobs that are critical will be cut. Some deadwood will be, but I bet most will remain.

The metro Detroit economy will take a big hit.

GM was trimming staff for years before the bankruptcy. They trimmed more during bankruptcy. Within a year, they brought several salary and contract workers back because—surprise, even the smaller, leaner GM needed their skill sets

This whole push to electric/autonomous is a sham or a facade. If large numbers of Americans started driving electric cars tomorrow’, could the grid handle it? Where will the money come to upgrade the grid? From you all, in the form of higher electric bills. Want Green energy? Yeah baby, add more to those bills.

Autonomous cars will make it easier for the government and corporate a America to control people—if they succeed. If the work, they’ll take you where THEY want.

GM says the future is electric, but they are abandoning fuel efficient cars. They sell ore profitable gas hogs. That’s great if fuel is $2-3 a gallon. How about $5-6?

Toyota is the most successful automaker. Most of their stuff bores me, but I can’t argue with their financial results, their reputation, and their cash on hand.

They are not putting half of their chips on autonomousl. They were not bailed out. Their CEO makes a fraction of what Mary Barra makes. You want a green car? Their Prius is THE green cat.

GMs leader, all the way to the top, are sycophants. That works for getting ahead. But you can’t lead that way.

So, GMs (aka M Barra’s) strategy is inherently flawed, imo. The reductions have not been well thought, just a dollar figure. So, unlike Napoleon, who started with Europe’s best army, GM’s team on the road to Moscow will start with some big holes.

It won’t end well

I have always known that the folks that run the company are crooks period , meaning the ones that sit wayyyyy up high in the ivory tower. It is absolutely sickening that so many hard working people will just be tossed aside yet again 10 years after bankruptcy , Zero accountability for CEOs , appalling. Put a cap on how much these crooks at the top make and hold them accountable , executives always always get the golden parichute don't they. The only vision I see is Max profits for me and screw everything and everyone else. Bad management bad business practices , low class and shabby . We can complain all day long about it but the honest truth is , it won't ever change.

It won't be dead weight that's cut. These are intended to cut cost and designed by HR consultants and attorneys to head-off class action lawsuits by "aggrieved" demographic classes of employees (notice I didn't say "workers"). Many great performers will be cut, much to their eventual benefit.

GM never cuts dead weight. Back in the day when it had an opportunity to sell Opex-Vauxhall, it didn't.

All it has to do was to separate engineering at Russelshiem from manufacturing to have Warren-Russelshiem-Bangalore engineering centers and sell manufacturing unit.

IT outsourcing to insourcing plan created additional deadweight.

GM Recognition is a joke, too easy to abuse, corporate equivalent of everyone gets a trophy.

I wonder where Mary Berra will be hiding tomorrow. She made $22M last year and stands to make more this year. Every penny the stock goes up she makes thousands. Knowing someone who has worked with her and said she is cold hearted.

If it's dead weight that is cut then certainly everyone would celebrate. I hope the dead weight see it as a wakeup call to do better at their next job (if they get one). What worries me is that John Davidson was cut. I didn't work under him but am in GSMC. From what I hear he was one of the better ones. He may have been in charge of an area that was not as critical to GM business - in which management should have cut a bad director and made John take over. We'll see...just another day or two left in this nightmare.

Stack ranking us nothing but playing favorites. If that is the basis for laying off, it is a joke. It only solidifies the managers' favorites even more. HR should be smarter than that. If they go by GM recognition, that is even worse. Friends recognising each other - how can that be a basis to keep/let go an employee?

We’ve got a couple guys in my department that are right near retirement that have been doing the bare minimum for years. Talking not putting in their time, fussing about doing any work, others always having to fix their screwups, etc. Logic would dictate these guys are the first to go due to their low performance but they are good ‘ole boys with the boss so I’m not too confident performance will actually be the deciding factor.

I work with young people who are on social media regularly and socializing. I’ve been working hard for decades. Depends on the person not service years

Hope they target the right people. I see some collateral obviously due to incompetent Dell/HP Directors. There will always be Director’s buddy on the top of the stacked list. Doesn’t matter if other people in the list are better, work harder and are smarter. Simply because he brought these people along with him they are better in his eyes. The smartest people on this earth worked in HP/Dell. How many times have we heard - We did it this way in Dell/HP, we should do it here also the same way. Bunch of buffoons ...

Been here for few years and I can tell GM HR doesn’t have any good way to figure out the dead weights . Managers’ good reviews , gm recognition are given to people who they ( managers ) hang out with ( there are exceptions ofcourse). So I have seen ppl getting recognitions for doing small things while many hard working folks don’t get anything and even end up getting less than 100% on their bonus. Overall poor practices, so expect to see some poor outcome tomorrow.

As someone who enjoys working for GM and is passionate about their vision, I agree. The issue is that the cuts will be solely dependent upon management's stack ranking of their employees, and I am not confident in their analysis. I truly hope they trim the fat rather than cutting off the hands.

Search "Dell Mafia" to see more examples of upper-level dead weight on this board.