My Company Sucks

[GoRITTigers]

Ok you are laid and you now not allowed work in the field you are trained and experienced in for 15 years or earn a salary comparable to what you were making and to support the standard of living that you are acoustom without selling your house and moving your kids to a new school, Not to mention that your wife would have to get a new job as well....hmmm.

Although most non-compete clauses don't allow you to work for a direct competitor of the company you just left.

Let's say I was a software developer at Kodak and left, I probably couldn't turn around and go work for Fuji, but I could go over and work for Xerox.

[KevinNU7]

Well I am very bored today and thought I would bump this, not that most of you would really care.

I am still bitter but not as bitter.

I have been told that my last day is December 31st, 2006 and there is a good possibility I could be offerred a position if I am willing to move to Cincinnati (P&G World Headquarters). We'll see able that I guess.

I'm much busier now as the group of 10 that I worked with is now a group of 1 after the first round of layoffs and some people leaving the company and others acecpting P&G roles. My job is now focused around managing the finances of the 600+ Gillette people that my "group" is responsible for as they merge into a P&G group of over 4,000 heads. Pretty interesting and rewarding work so far.

[goBU18]

Well I am very bored today and thought I would bump this, not that most of you would really care.

I am still bitter but not as bitter.

I have been told that my last day is December 31st, 2006 and there is a good possibility I could be offerred a position if I am willing to move to Cincinnati (P&G World Headquarters). We'll see able that I guess.

I'm much busier now as the group of 10 that I worked with is now a group of 1 after the first round of layoffs and some people leaving the company and others acecpting P&G roles. My job is now focused around managing the finances of the 600+ Gillette people that my "group" is responsible for as they merge into a P&G group of over 4,000 heads. Pretty interesting and rewarding work so far.

Sorry to hear the news. :(

[Todd Patten]

Just curious -- what do you do? Could you do it as your own business?

[KevinNU7]

I work in Finance managing the budget and spending forecasts for a large software development group within Gillette. I suppose long term I'd like to run my own Consulting/Financial support firm.

goBU,
I wouldn't call it bad news. P&G operates out of Cincy so it has always been obvious I would be laid off. My severance package is set to be pretty lucrative and will give me lots of time to find a new job.

[NUJerseyJohn]

I work in Finance managing the budget and spending forecasts for a large software development group within Gillette. I suppose long term I'd like to run my own Consulting/Financial support firm.

goBU,
I wouldn't call it bad news. P&G operates out of Cincy so it has always been obvious I would be laid off. My severance package is set to be pretty lucrative and will give me lots of time to find a new job.
Hooray Severance! :D

[MinnesotaNorthStar]

My uncle's company wanted him to sign a non-compete clause 3 weeks ago (he's been with them for years). He refused (his boss actually recommended he refuse)...and he was fired 2 weeks later (he was looking to leave anyway, luckily). Because he refused to sign the clause though, he was refused a serverance package.

But the good news is that wherever he ends up working he can contact his clients and take them with him to his new company.

[pirate]

If I get laid off, I get a severance package. Why? because the company knows darn well that if it starts laying off union workers at the plant I work at, we would sabotage the place, and there goes a billion dollar investment. They are really stupid, but they do understand fear. They fire nonunion guys on trumped up crap all the time, but they know what happens when they screw with the union.


How's that philosophy been working out for the unions?

[Todd Patten]

If I get laid off, I get a severance package. Why? because the company knows darn well that if it starts laying off union workers at the plant I work at, we would sabotage the place, and there goes a billion dollar investment. They are really stupid, but they do understand fear. They fire nonunion guys on trumped up crap all the time, but they know what happens when they screw with the union.

You know, the CONCEPT of a union is great. It's a wonderful example of American democracy, despite the belief of some that unions are tools of the commie culture. The fact is, the formation of a union is based on a purely democratic process where workers choose to band together as a group that has more influence than any individual. The corporation also is given a choice to establish/maintain relations with a union, and does so based on pure capitalist principles of supply and demand as well as return on investment. It's as purely capitalistic as you can get.

In a vacuum that is. It's the disgusting "well, we'll f' the company up if we don't get our way" attitude of union members that soils the otherwise positive aspects of unions. The entitlement mentality of union workers displayed in this short post is reprehensible. The joy of holding a corporation hostage is virulent throughout most large unions -- as if the workers themselves believe that they are the owners of the company. Unfortunately, in many cases, there is little to nothing a company can do once put in this situation.

Corporations are much better off to stay away from unions, and instead provide superior benefits to non-union workers. In particular, companies are better served to provide a profit sharing plan that is directly related to the success of the company. The plan needs to be paletable -- allowing workers to see a direct benefit from hard work and positive attitude. Avoiding the unions, and providing a superior work environment would be far more profitable in the long run.

In a slightly related note, can someone explain to me why some states can be forced into hiring union workers for capital projects? For example, if I remember correctly, the Big Dig project required a certain percent of union workers. Which is the primary reason for all of the maleficence surrounding it. Is it purely political pressure that forces the government to designate union participation in projects? As far as I know, this never happens in New Hampshire -- thankfully.

[JohnB]

Corporations are much better off to stay away from unions, and instead provide superior benefits to non-union workers. In particular, companies are better served to provide a profit sharing plan that is directly related to the success of the company. The plan needs to be paletable -- allowing workers to see a direct benefit from hard work and positive attitude. Avoiding the unions, and providing a superior work environment would be far more profitable in the long run.


Serve up a decent benefits package, competitive wages, and a profit sharing plan and it's doubtful you'd ever have to worry about a union becoming part of a company. I know in my company there's certainly enough numbers that you'd expect at least murmurs. I doubt you could find a half dozen employees with even a drop of interest because it's well known if it ever got momentum all could kiss a VERY nice profit sharing plan goodbye.

[ScottM]

Serve up a decent benefits package, competitive wages, and a profit sharing plan and it's doubtful you'd ever have to worry about a union becoming part of a company.

It works for Toyota. Plus, their US-made products generally aren't crap either.

Unions, with their "work rules", layoff protocols that protect the lazy and unproductive and unrealistic economic demands are a burden to most industries. You look at the most unionized industries today, and they are generally the ones in bankruptcy, using rolling layoffs and suffering massive financial losses.

In the spirit of full disclosure, a number of my relatives are/were union in a number of industries. My grandfather was a Teamster's shop steward during Jimmy Hoffa's reign, and I guess there's a picture of me sitting on Hoffa's lap before he went to prison. But I don't know where he's at today. :eek: ;)

[nubobcat]

It works for Toyota. Plus, their US-made products generally aren't crap either.

Unions, with their "work rules", layoff protocols that protect the lazy and unproductive and unrealistic economic demands are a burden to most industries. You look at the most unionized industries today, and they are generally the ones in bankruptcy, using rolling layoffs and suffering massive financial losses.



Its sad but true. Unions take value out of the company and end up pushing them closer to the brink of failure. It certainly makes moving to ______ [insert third word country], a lot easier for a company when they can't even afford their american workers.

Unions in America take more and more during the good times [which companies should give with profit sharing anyways], but when the bad times come they aren't willing to give anything back.

[MattS]

In the company I work for there are two plants (out of about 25) that are unionized. And guess what? Those two plants are losing manufacturing jobs to other plants that are not unionized. Coincidence?

75 years ago unions had their place in the American industry, but today they are just leeches to company attempting to be profitable. :(

[Slap Shot]

Did you create this thread from work? :D

[KevinNU7]

Most likely :)

[BadgerAlum@WMU]

Corporations are much better off to stay away from unions, and instead provide superior benefits to non-union workers.

AKA Paternalism. Such as the mine companies in Michigan providing land for churches and halls for the various ethnic groups in copper country. (It's part of my dissertation research.) Don't think that the company doesn't expect something back (eg higher profits and higher productivity)

And how many companies actually DO provide said superior benefits--or benefits at all--to non-union workers?

Mine does, but we do have to pay for it out of our pre-tax wages.

And my supervisors decided to change my job without asking me if I wanted to do my new job (which I probably would not have). And I've two days of training to learn it all, and the guy who is leaving gave his customary two weeks. It would have been nice to have a little more time to learn the new job--if I took it at all! But the thing is, I made the mistake of saying I didn't mind working in that area, and no one else seems to want to do it. It doesn't come with a pay raise, just more hours, and when my area isn't so busy, I'll be doing other work.

But then, maybe this is the key to moving up in the co...? Be cooperative, keep a positive attitude, and learn the job backwards and forwards (like I did my other position) to the point where they can actually give me a promotion?

We'll see.

[omahasioux1]

In the company I work for there are two plants (out of about 25) that are unionized. And guess what? Those two plants are losing manufacturing jobs to other plants that are not unionized. Coincidence?

75 years ago unions had their place in the American industry, but today they are just leeches to company attempting to be profitable. :(Unions are destroying companies today.

[KevinNU7]

Update: Well I have recieved an offer to work for P&G in Boston for the next 2-3 years with a promotion.

My current managers are now scrambling to try and put something together too.

[Zudnic]

Update: Well I have recieved an offer to work for P&G in Boston for the next 2-3 years with a promotion.

My current managers are now scrambling to try and put something together too.

Congratulations, P&G is a great company, and a great resume builder. Good luck with your current situation as well.

My company is currently undergoing merger stress, too, so I feel your pain. The hard part is waiting it out to see if the ax will fall.

[goBU18]

Update: Well I have recieved an offer to work for P&G in Boston for the next 2-3 years with a promotion.

My current managers are now scrambling to try and put something together too.

Congratulations on the offer. Good luck. Promotion is good, and important. Good things do happen to good people who are patient.