Thread regarding Ford layoffs

@5qwf+1kjqE93c so true. Well known LL3 that telecommutes only promotes his buddies that drink beer and eats fast food with him.

Oh and attractive young women.

And he doesn't even hide it.

If you're not a bar buddy of your manager, you will never rise in the ranks at Ford.

When I started 25+ years ago, I wondered why the old men had such bad attitudes. Now I'm an old man with a bad attitude. Incompetent chaos rules at Ford and after a few decades of the next stupid flavor of the month, you just can't muster the strength to be excited anymore.

@zeu+1kjqE93c “If you don’t fit git” is wise counsel
I was foolish enough to believe that Ford leadership actually wanted to change the Ford Culture and that I should be the change. Oh how young and naive I was LOL. Sure they actually will “Value Knowledge over Hierarchy” and value Innovation and Teamwork.
The first thing I noticed on day 1 of job was how the Ford professed culture posters were plastered on every wall, seriously every 10-20 feet there were posters. I remembered a professor telling us that a companies culture quality was inversely proportional to the amount of culture posters in the office. I was oh, this cannot be good. It wasn’t.
All in all valuable life lessons learned.

At Ford the only rule is to stay in your own lane. Try to step up and do more you get crushed. I'm not pension eligible otherwise I would have taken the lump sum and gone and made more where stepping up and going above and beyond is appreciated.

Wow @1rsz+1kjqE93c that is insightful!
Now I understand why I got a dressing down from supervisor for solving problems without telling him. I found it so bizarre at the time. I had solved some problems for another area and didn’t think anything about it. That area had told their director about it and they thanked my director who in turned thanked downward, well the gratitude stopped at my supervisor. He was furious, foaming at the mouth furious. I was told in no uncertain terms I could not help anyone without his permission and I was to do no work period without his permission and guidance. LOL. That LL6 tool is now an LL4 so ya know what Ford values.

@1yqt+1kjqE93c Great post!

Don't forget Bill Ford Jr. That is the biggest drag on this company, and the reason for many of the points on your list!

I’ll take a bite at this post. I have continually upskilled to no avail of advancement at the company. What you will find at Ford is leadership absolutely hates people who can look at a problem and just solve it using engineering theory and practice. You say “why could that be?” The truth is most leadership is in a constant state of fear because of how they advance people at the company. An engineer who advances because they apply theory and practice to solving problems is not afraid because they use the best known model and theory to solve a problem; diving into the critical details based on experience. Most leadership at Ford have not a clue, so there is constant anxiety because they lack the confidence to solve technically challenging problems that require a deep dive. When an engineer or tech spec (let’s say a tech spec that was promoted to the position because they were indeed an expert) solves the problem and effectively bypasses the need for leadership’s direction, leadership is secretly offended. As opposed to being delighted that a burden of uncertainty has been removed by these skilled individuals, they will malign said persons career and only help the people that acted like they could not do their job without management. This is Ford Motor Company engineering. So if you are a young engineer and you chose that profession to engineer amazing product, Ford is not the place where your career will thrive. Highly recommend you look elsewhere.

@OP. Do you think that Ford is the only company having these issues? LOL, think again! Upper management of large companies spend a lot of time watching other large companies to copy what they do. The only thing that I'll grant is that FMC has gone lower than many others because it has copied too many bad behaviors:

• Outsourcing? Check!
• Wokeness? Check!
• Nepotism? Check!
• Office politics? Check!
• Ageism? Check!
• Racism, sorry, "affirmative action"? Check!
• Promoting outsiders? Check!
• Clueless CEO that cannot steer the company in the right path? Check!
• All the bad decisions from other companies? Check!

I have been around, and I have seen a lot of sh-t. Yes, Ford is the worst, but that doesn't mean other companies are great, just less bad. Years ago, a reorg put me under an awful manager, and at that time, even as I couldn't leave FMC for personal issues, I considered long and hard to leave the company.

Then, as OP said, I let the company changed me from good worker to an average one. Am I still a good worker? Yes, I know I will be in another company. At Ford? Nope, don't throw pearls to swine. My work is still professional and good, I just stopped trying to change the minds of the LLxs when they decide something stupid. Like a horse with blinders, I just take care of documenting my technical point of view, and ignoring the managers' decisions.

So why did I let FMC to change me? Wellbeing! Not the wellbeing of the company, but my own. Less headaches, less workload (since I do not go out of my way to help others anymore), less arguing, and WFH for 3 years and a salary rise during that time didn't hurt neither. For a change, I am the one getting ahead with this and not the company.

As I was advised in college, IF YOU DON'T FIT, GIT and never look back! &

Nepotism is the norm at Ford. Talent and accomplishments mean nothing. All the fakes emerge at the tail end ( of successful projects only ), and associate themselves to take credit. If you're not part of the old boys club, you dont stand a chance. Mediocrity rules. Dont ' disrupt ', and never question or force decisions. Sick of all the buzz words used by id--ts. Case study are the mo--ns of Dford. All talk and nothing tangible. They don't solution after all ( an id--t, McM#@*& actually said it!) We used to develop, engineer and design incredible vehicles. Since Mulally left, its been downhill. Billions wasted and no accountability. Outsiders with NO knowledge of automotive or a proven record of profitable products are brought in and have not demonstrated any capacity for good decision making. Farley is a sociapath, if he has any brains he'll cut all the useless LL4/3/2s that continue to ' transform ' Ford into garbage.

Everyone is responsible for their own levels of competency and skill.

You can chose to sit and do nothing / sit and complain / sit and sabotage others

• or - you can instead use your time to read manuals, learn new things, improve processes.

Sure you might not get rewarded for your skills and abilities at Ford, but it is your choice to rot on the Ford vine. Make that choice and you are stuck at Ford. The people who chose to be excellent and develop their skills despite not being acknowledge have no difficulty leaving Ford for much better opportunities and paychecks. In addition they are happier as they aren’t sitting around complaining.

Oh and yes the highly skilled and competent are always the target of Ford layoffs. Take it as a complement and as you know you will land in a greener pasture while the below average are rolling in the Ford mud pit.

Maybe if there were conferences and training, this wouldn't happen. Maybe if Ford paid for a person to keep their certifications, this wouldn't happen. Maybe if Ford promoted from within instead of being in "experienced hires" into upper management, this wouldn't happen

I can thank my sup for this. Made me below average.