People are more and more miserable here and more are looking to leave if they can. A once great company has turned into a shadow of its former self.
13 replies (most recent on top)
Yes that is the catch thing that is going on. Useless directors, and some useless managers too. I still don’t know what makes a director so special at Suncor because all that is observed is a useless position of so called power but yet they are totally disconnected from the work. They get a nice cozy comfortable high paying position though that doesn’t make them essential or necessary though. The reward for knowing and rubbing right on the right person at Suncor is a promotion, and the people who are promoted are one step above being targeted for a lay-off. So do what you can to improve your position and push for it because the easiest targets are the people at the bottom. You can be an essential genius hitting home runs flying through your work getting things done but if you’re at the bottom your job is at risk.
Some of the layoffs were just plain d-mb. Like literally stupid. It’s to the point where it’s going to cost the company more in the long run to have let these people go and lose them than the cost savings to lay them off. People at the bottom who truly know what their co-workers do for work watching them get eliminated who are truly perplexed and confused how a company and the people at the top can make such a d-mb mistake. The directors and people who made the lay-offs happen don’t know the work or what’s happening at the bottom. People who did work that cannot just be eliminated, Roles and positions of people that are so specialized that it would take years and years to develop someone to know what they know. There are positions where people are so specialized if a specialist contractor were to be hired they would be costly. Positions where it will take a new person 6-12 months even if they are experienced to get to even half the speed of these people were were laid off. Some of the layoffs made sense though if they really felt the business case was so strong for them. But most of them didn’t. It almost seemed that for every lay off that made sense, there was a layoff that was a failed mistake. There is going to be a time soon where the next step in the layoffs will be to rehire to fill these stupidly created gaps.
To save costs, management lay people off.
The problem is in an attempt to make the numbers, they lay off people who were actually doing work, had a deep knowledge of the process and systems, and are highly efficient.
Then tasks/projects/work can't get done now that they got ride of thoes people.
Then, the same "geniuses" will say we need to hire more staff to get work done.
The Irony is the same brilliant management will pay themselves a bonus during the layoff because they saved money, any get another bonus when the solve the staffing problem they created.
That is just the way it is.
If they really want to save money, they can get rid of a lot of upper management. Most don't serve a purpose.
That will never happen unfortunately. They are aristocrats and they never see themselves as the problem. It's always the little people.
Add to that all a whole bunch of bullets have been randomly distributed evenly throughout Suncor’s entire organizational structure so there is now a Swiss cheese structure in the network of skills, talents, knowledge, and experience amongst specialists that once was. Lots of important skills and knowledge were deleted. Skill and knowledge gaps exist in these holes. A job that used to take 5 minutes might take 5 days to learn now for the new organization. One person I know got laid off, he was the only person that had the skill set and abilities to do many particular tasks. Now the rest of us are stuck, we have to pay more to hire contractors and get costly vendor support. Frustrating.
I agree. Such challenges can indeed have a profound effect on morale, fostering frustration, a sense of inadequacy, and contributing to an overall negative work environment.
The challenges in Suncor performance stem from various factors, including safety concerns, limited achievements, inadequate qualifications among staff, and lack of essential skills. These elements collectively contribute to a grand scheme of significant performance issue.
Speaking of tough talks: if Suncor really wants to understand the financial situation, they should look at how much excess inventory there is and how well orders are being handled by SCM. No one is auditing them. There’s a pattern that shows they’re not doing well in these areas, indicating they’re not up to the task, and we need to see some improvements in the planning process.
That’s one of the issues that is partly damaging the morale. There was no target set for these people who don’t carry their fair share. Lots of them are still here.
Good performers like working with other capable teammates. We’ve all been there, dealing with co-workers who aren’t pulling their weight. The reason it continues is usually because the manager is avoiding tough talks and being overly nice, neglecting their duty to set high expectations and address issues. Managers should step up, give feedback when needed, and take action if things don’t improve.
Especially for Fort McMurray there is so much damage done to the entire community from these layoffs. Think of the sacrifices people made to move themselves to Fort McMurray from all over to work at Suncor or Syncrude. Paying a mortgage and building their lives there. Some people just bought a property and got laid off. With all these job cuts people have to sell and move out to another city for work. This could drop the housing market down another level in Fort McMurray especially in the above average to higher price ranges. There is no confidence in having a secure high paying job in Fort McMurray anymore, so now there is too much risk to buy a property in these higher price ranges.
I start seeing some job postings. Even some are temporary, I wonder why? Only 10% was gone. If management would increase everyone’s pay, we can still handle extra workload. Why getting somebody from outside? For Finance? Give me break, there are so many people in Finance that are not busy.
His answer to every problem, every setback was “I will work harder!” —which he had adopted as his personal motto. - Boxer: Animal Farm
Work is your reward! I worked my a-s off and got laid off mid-career. I got rewarded with no more work!
Stop complaining. The work is your reward !!