Thread regarding Siemens layoffs

@py9 Now everything makes sense.

@q69 It's not just you. We all feel the same way.

Since the One Tech transformation, I haven't seen any meaningful integration. If anything, the organization has become even more fragmented, disconnected, and chaotic.

One Tech was supposed to break down silos, but somehow it has only created more of them.

Get your own house in order before trying to take on Inovance.

DI China is such an organizational mess, yet management keeps talking about how to beat Inovance.

How the fu-k are we supposed to beat our competitors when we can't even get our own sh-t together?

Fix your own damn problems first!

WB is obsessed with so-called "corporate culture building." He's still stuck in the old WHB-era mindset.

Remember the final years of WHB's reign over DI? Almost every GM would put decades-old Chinese Communist Party slogans on the last slide of their PowerPoint presentations.

Seriously, are we running a multinational technology company or holding a fu--ing political propaganda session?

@q2n Sounds like that was your first time dealing with him.

@q2k Sounds like you're talking about my boss.

The most arrogant managers are the ones who simply forward an email to their subordinates with two words: “Pls prepare.”

No context, no guidance, no effort. Just dump the fu--ing work on someone else and call it management.

Any manager who thinks forwarding emails with “Pls prepare” counts as leadership is a fu--ing mo--n.

@q2g I couldn't agree more. SSB used to cling to WB like a fu--ing leech back in RNE. Now he's YDH's loyal lapdog.

Same a-s-kissing game, just a different master.

@q2e JHH is WB's bed partner.

YDH and WB once locked horns over JHH's fate. And judging by how things turned out, WB clearly came out on top. Looks like YDH lost that round of office politics.

@py9 You've hit the nail on the head. Why is YDH so obsessed with marketing activities? Because they're the easiest to control—marketing people are much easier to manage than sales.

@pzw YDH has never respected employees. If you think he's responsible, that's all an act. He has no real insight into the business, but he just puts on this "I know best" attitude to bluff people.

@psp I still remember the CIIF in FY25. Dahan and I were discussing things on-site. Back then, I thought he was a sharp, capable and responsible manager. But well… I’m really disappointed.

DI China desperately needs a younger generation of leaders to bring fresh energy and new perspectives into the organization.

Just look at the current middle and senior management. From what I can see, a significant proportion are already in their 50s or beyond.

The problem is not age itself, but the management culture that has developed over the years.

Too many managers seem to have settled into their comfort zones. Some are simply waiting for retirement, while others spend most of their energy flattering their superiors, managing upward, and protecting their own positions.

Meanwhile, frontline employees are left to deal with virtually every business challenge. Managers give instructions, employees do the actual work. When problems arise, responsibility gets pushed downward. When results are delivered, the credit goes straight to management.

And then we wonder why so many talented young employees are leaving the company.

DI China needs fresh blood in its leadership team.

If the company genuinely wants to regain its competitiveness and vitality, it must accelerate leadership succession, promote capable younger employees, and give the next generation real decision-making authority.

Senior managers should gradually make room for emerging talent rather than holding on to positions and decision-making power indefinitely.

Experience deserves respect, but seniority should never become a lifetime entitlement to leadership.

Otherwise, DI China will continue losing ambitious young employees who see little room for career development in an organization dominated by outdated management practices.

For the younger generation, the biggest problem is not just bureaucracy. It’s the overwhelming “father-knows-best” management culture, where senior leaders expect unquestioning obedience while taking little responsibility for the consequences of their decisions.

DI China doesn’t need more bosses telling young employees what to do. It needs a new generation of leaders who actually understand how to lead.

One Tech was supposed to transform the organization. Perhaps it’s time to transform the leadership as well.

@pfz WB and YDH are both holdovers from the WHB era.

During WB’s tenure as RNE GM, there were allegations of improper entertainment and excessive wining and dining in Northeast China. Even during company-wide cost-saving initiatives, WB allegedly instructed sales employees to dine at a restaurant owned by his relatives and purchase alcoholic beverages there.

As for YDH, during his time in MTS, the supplier of the MTS roadshow vehicle was allegedly connected to his relatives, raising serious concerns about potential conflicts of interest and the misuse of company funds.

Perhaps this also explains YDH’s obsession with marketing activities. In my view, he lacks genuine business expertise and seems far more interested in controlling marketing budgets than creating actual business value.

The real question is: How much of the company’s money has been spent on genuine business development, and how much has potentially benefited personal connections?

These allegations deserve a thorough and independent compliance investigation.

@pf6 Dr. Xiao is nothing more than a figurehead. He has virtually no influence over DI and can’t even get YDH under control.

Remember what Cedrik said at the FY26 DI CN TAM? “The Achim Meeting.”

That says it all. Achim is the one who really calls the shots in DI.

@psp YDY has always been like this—showing no basic respect for colleagues, which only further proves that he is nothing but a sycophant who curries favor with those in power. He doesn't understand the business; if he did, he would have replied to your email. You should ignore him too—don't be too weak.

@psn CJB has finally broken free from YDH. FY26 was certainly no walk in the park for CJB, thanks to YDH.

@ps9 DI CN Compliance should take a closer look at WQ and YLF in RE.

@psm I'm really disappointed in YDH. I felt completely lost throughout FY26. I sent him numerous messages and emails, but he chose to ignore them all. Now, with the new organizational structure in FY27, what options do I even have? What am I supposed to do now?

@psm Perhaps this explains why so many people consider ZPF both smart and lucky. Leaving Vertical for SW was arguably one of the smartest career moves he could have made.

Sometimes, the smartest career decision is not climbing higher within an organization, but knowing when to get out of it.

YDH, now that the new fiscal year has started, let me ask a simple question: What exactly are IE and VSA supposed to be doing?

Have you ever considered how many Vertical Heads have been pulling VSA and IE teams into one round of seemingly meaningless PowerPoint assignments after another, simply to complete your homework?

How many VSA colleagues spend their days visiting customers, only to end up completing these assignments during their limited time at customer sites? Instead of focusing on customer engagement, technical roadmaps, and market development, they are constantly being dragged into internal reporting exercises.

And a message to SSB and WYS: Please focus on doing your own jobs.

The follow-up actions you assign to Vertical Heads eventually trickle down to VSA and IE. In the end, the people who should be visiting customers, understanding market dynamics, and providing technical support are spending their time completing management assignments.

Do you actually understand the industries you are trying to manage? Do you have sufficient industry knowledge and frontline experience to direct teams working across different sectors?

If not, please stop pretending that you have all the answers. Stop issuing generic instructions and pushing work onto people who understand these industries far better than you do.

VSA exists to drive industry standards, influence customer technology roadmaps, and support business development. IE exists to provide genuine industry expertise. Neither organization should become a PowerPoint outsourcing department for Vertical Heads.

A simple question for FY27: Are we going to spend another year creating presentations for management, or are we finally going to spend more time creating value for customers?

Please start to audit the SPR quota of RE OEM. Why can Suzhou TZTEK be allocated so much quota? While sales use the company's direct-supply SPR to obtain improper benefits, it disrupts normal market prices, and the company has already been repeatedly caught dumping goods in the market.

These days, being a manager seems like the easiest job in DI China.

Anything they don't want to do, anything too complicated, or anything they simply don't know how to handle gets pushed straight down to frontline employees.

When things go well, it's their brilliant leadership and outstanding management skills. When things go wrong, suddenly it's the employees' poor execution and lack of competence.

Credit flows upward. Blame flows downward. Work stays at the bottom.

And somehow, these managers keep getting promoted while the people actually doing the work are buried under endless PowerPoint presentations, business reviews, and unrealistic expectations.

What a fantastic management model.

Being a manager must be wonderful. I'd love to become one too — apparently, all you need to master is delegation, credit-taking, and blame-shifting.

Let's be realistic. No multinational corporation can completely eliminate compliance violations. But what is happening in certain parts of DI China raises a much more fundamental question: How many managers are actually creating value, and how many are simply acting as toll collectors, taking their cut from the hard work of frontline salespeople?

Look at PA XJ. Serious questions about conduct and business practices remain, yet people facing such allegations continue to hold positions within the organization. Meanwhile, genuinely capable and hardworking colleagues are being pushed out through round after round of layoffs, with many eventually joining our competitors.

What an irony. We are losing the people who create value while retaining those whose contribution and integrity deserve much closer scrutiny.

And then there is RN LJ.

His steady rise within RN has raised uncomfortable questions about his relationship with former RN GM BLP and whether favoritism or improper benefits played a role in his career progression.

BLP's departure should have been a wake-up call. Apparently, it wasn't.

Instead, with ZJS introducing a deeply flawed SPR policy and ZLM only recently taking over RN, LJ appears to have found the perfect opportunity to consolidate even more influence while frontline salespeople struggle under enormous pressure.

There have been repeated concerns about the alleged abuse of managerial authority, including directing purchases through designated sales channels and potential personal benefits arising from those arrangements. These are precisely the kinds of allegations that deserve an independent compliance investigation rather than being quietly ignored.

How many more talented employees must leave before management starts questioning who is actually creating value and who is merely extracting it?

The market is already difficult enough. Customers are cutting costs, competitors are becoming increasingly aggressive, and our own people are exhausted by endless PowerPoint presentations, business reviews, and internal politics.

Frontline salespeople are fighting to win orders and protect customer relationships. The last thing they need is another layer of internal gatekeepers standing between them and the business.

ZLM, the microphone is now yours.

Will RN continue protecting the old networks and tolerating questionable practices? Or will you finally listen to frontline salespeople, restore accountability, and give those who genuinely contribute a fair chance?

RN doesn't need more toll collectors. It needs leaders who remove obstacles instead of creating them.

Hopefully, ZLM's arrival will finally bring some clear skies back to RN sales.

t is widely known in the RN that LJ collects tribute from his subordinates at his own villa, yet he has remained entirely unaffected. Now that ZLM has assumed office, shouldn't he do something about it?

@pek ZJS came up through AS BU and also spent time in the regions, so people had high hopes that he would bring a fresh new atmosphere. Unfortunately, once he took charge of the domain, he changed completely — turning into a full-fledged local emperor. With power firmly in his grip, his word was law. Through a series of maneuvers, he left people in the regions resentful but afraid to speak out — no one dared to oppose ZJS. Even when someone cautiously raised a different opinion, ZJS simply refused to listen, carrying himself with an "I am the state" air. The entire domain became his one-man show — those who obey prosper, those who resist perish. His local-emperor style was on full display.

@pen YDH lacks a real grasp of the business. If he is to promote, how could he avoid getting his hands dirty? And this is precisely where he excels — you should have seen the sycophantic way he smiles at WHB. It's a scene straight out of a TV drama, playing out right here at Di China.

Oh my God, I believe it.@pf6

How does management plan to beat Inovance? With beautifully polished PowerPoint decks — and hey, they're winning... on PowerPoint.@p5p

@pc2 Don't forget, YDH started out in MarCom. He does not know business, so he can only burn money in MarCom. Everywhere he goes, he insists on having his own marketing so he can get things done for himself.

@pen If YDH doesn't have some dirt on YXN and Dr. Xiao, how the he-l has he managed to rule his little kingdom so comfortably for so long?

I'm seriously starting to wonder what kind of leverage YDH has over Dr. X or YXN.

Otherwise, how the he-l does he keep getting away with acting like the rules don't apply to him?

Is anyone actually holding YDH accountable, or is he simply untouchable?

As sales, let me offer a few fair observations.

1. The FY27 price increase and SPR quota system have been an absolute disaster.

Frankly, some of these policies feel downright unreasonable, if not borderline abusive toward customers. Genuine customer demand is being held hostage by an internal quota mechanism.

Even as a sales, I find this heavy-handed approach unacceptable.

The manufacturing industry is already under enormous cost pressure, and customers across the market are struggling. Yet instead of helping us remain competitive, DI China introduces disastrous internal policies that practically hand business opportunities to our competitors on a silver platter.

1. ZJS has far too much influence over SPR decisions without sufficient visibility into actual business conditions.

Pricing decisions require a deep understanding of customers, projects, and competitive dynamics. Concentrating so much authority in one person's hands, without adequate frontline transparency, is a serious problem.

To be fair, WQK is a decent guy. But to some extent, it feels like he's been made the fall guy for decisions ultimately controlled by ZJS.

1. I still struggle to see what real business value MB and SW can bring.

With ZJS holding such tight control over pricing authority, I honestly cannot see a convincing business case for how these two organizations are supposed to help sales win more orders.

If they cannot influence commercial decisions or offer meaningful support when we're competing for projects, what exactly are salespeople supposed to turn to them for?

More PowerPoints? More meetings? More action plans?

1. Let's be fair to the people working in Vertical.

Despite all the criticism directed at YDH and the Vertical Heads, most of the IE and VSA colleagues I've worked with are actually reliable, knowledgeable, and genuinely supportive.

Whenever sales needs technical assistance or customer support, many of them are willing to step in and help without hesitation.

They deserve recognition, not to be lumped together with management.

The problem isn't the frontline employees. It's a management and decision-making system that makes their jobs unnecessarily difficult.

At the end of the day, salespeople don't care about internal power struggles, fancy organizational charts, or endless corporate presentations.

We care about customers, competitiveness, and winning business.

Give us reasonable pricing policies, empower the people who actually understand the market, and stop making our competitors' jobs easier.

What a lively weekend!

Go WZL! Hope he comes out on top.

As for YDH and his loyal cronies, it's time to step down and get the he-l out.

@pc2 I can totally understand how our colleagues in Vertical feel. Now that I'm in MB, I'm honestly worried we'll end up looking like a bunch of useless id--ts in the eyes of sales too.

I genuinely hope WZL can push back and secure more decision-making authority and commercial leverage from ZJS.

Without real authority to influence business decisions, MB risks becoming just another organization that creates PowerPoints, asks for updates, and adds little value to sales.

DI China Vertical: A Kingdom Within a Kingdom?

Let's take a closer look at DI China's current organizational structure.

The strangest part of the entire organization is probably Vertical — a little kingdom operating in its own world, seemingly with its own rules.

1. FY26: Fireside Chats or an Attempt to Restore the Old Dynasty?

Throughout FY26, YDH seemed particularly enthusiastic about organizing so-called "fireside chats."

What exactly was the point? A nostalgic tribute to the previous management regime? Or was someone seriously trying to bring the old dynasty back?

At one point during FY26, YDH was widely rumored to be the future Head of PSE.

According to internal discussions, he reportedly organized a workshop involving PSE management and Vertical Heads around July or August. At the time, he certainly appeared to be acting like someone who had already won the organizational power struggle.

But this raises a much more serious question.

If future organizational structures and personnel appointments were disclosed during that workshop before their official announcement, was such disclosure authorized? And if the information was confidential, could it have violated any applicable NDA or internal confidentiality requirements?

This deserves a clear answer from Compliance.

1. Marketing & Communication: Another Personal Empire?

Under the current HQ organizational structure, Marketing & Communication already has dedicated departments and reporting lines responsible for DI-level marketing activities.

Yet in FY27, YDH apparently decided that Vertical needed its own Marketing & Communication function, reportedly bringing in a former subordinate to take charge.

Why?

What business problem does this additional function actually solve?

How does it fit into the global organizational structure, and how are overlapping responsibilities supposed to be managed?

Is this about improving marketing effectiveness, or simply expanding someone's personal sphere of influence?

1. Organizational Simplification? Apparently Not for Vertical.

While HQ has been emphasizing organizational simplification and flatter management structures, Vertical seems to be moving in the opposite direction.

Instead of reducing bureaucracy, YDH introduced additional management layers through the Vertical Discrete and Vertical Process structure.

The result? More hierarchy, more reporting lines, and potentially even more internal coordination.

One can't help wondering whether this arrangement was designed to improve operational effectiveness or simply to reduce the number of difficult Vertical Heads reporting directly to YDH.

Even more concerning is the apparent lack of transparency around these additional leadership positions.

Were they openly advertised? Was there a competitive selection process? Were other qualified internal candidates given a fair opportunity to apply?

Or were the positions effectively reserved for people already favored by the existing leadership?

Does this appointment process comply with Siemens' internal governance and HR policies?

If management wants employees to believe in fairness and transparency, perhaps it should start by demonstrating both.

1. Who Authorized the Circulars?

Another question worth asking:

What formal authority does YDH have to sign and issue DI-level organizational Circulars, particularly two separate announcements?

Were these communications issued under a properly delegated mandate?

Were the relevant organizational changes reviewed and approved through the appropriate governance channels?

These are legitimate questions about organizational accountability, not merely complaints about management style.

1. Less Bureaucracy, More Business. Is That Too Much to Ask?

Other GM-level leaders appear to spend much of their time trying to solve problems, remove obstacles, and make business operations run more smoothly.

Meanwhile, from where I stand, YDH seems increasingly disconnected from customers, market realities, and actual business challenges.

Yet somehow, there is never a shortage of new assignments, reports, workshops, and PowerPoint presentations for frontline sales and VSA colleagues.

Less recycled strategy. Less corporate fantasy. Fewer PowerPoints that nobody reads once the meeting is over.

How about spending some time listening to what frontline salespeople actually think about Vertical management?

How about understanding what customers really need?

And how about taking responsibility for management decisions instead of pushing the consequences onto employees who have little influence over those decisions?

The people working in Vertical are not the problem. Many are competent professionals trying to do their jobs under increasingly frustrating circumstances.

Poor leadership decisions should not become a burden that every frontline Vertical employee has to carry.

Stop building internal kingdoms. Stop creating management layers just to manage other managers.

The business needs leadership, not another organizational power game.

I strongly urge DI China Compliance to launch an independent investigation into potential abuse of the SPR Quota system during this price increase, particularly whether Channel Heads such as WQ and WDN may have used their authority for personal financial gain.

The relationship and dealings between WDN and TTSF, Progress also deserve thorough scrutiny for any potential conflicts of interest, undisclosed benefits, or improper arrangements.

Every SPR quota allocation and approval decision should be transparent, traceable, and subject to an independent audit.

If any misconduct is uncovered, those responsible must be held accountable, regardless of their positions.

Looks like my top priority for Q1 FY27 is apologizing to customers for the mess DI CN created.

Management announces a price increase almost a month in advance, then makes it nearly impossible for customers to place orders before the new prices kick in.

Management makes the decisions, customers pay the price, and sales are left to apologize. What a brilliant way to kick off FY27.