The huge international company I've worked for for 23 years announced yesterday...in an email to the employees...that in an effort to cut costs, 1000 jobs would be eliminated worldwide. In addition to that, any employee 57 years of age or older, with 7 or more years of service, was going to be offered voluntary retirement. Yep, I fit into that category.

It's a long story, too long to tell here, but the bottom line is that if you qualify for the early retirement but don't take it, there's no guarantee you'll have a job at the end of February. Has anything like this ever happened to anyone here? This company makes MILLIONS every year....they're definitely not hurting. I'll have a pension plus my 401K, and will be able to buy health insurance through them for a lot less than if I tried to get it on my own. I just can't believe the way it was handled. And the real kicker is, 2 hours after WE found out (and not even the supervisors were given a heads-up), the story appeared on the website of the local newspaper. Thanks for listening, everybody. I'm just a little bit shocky.

Is the head of this international company seated in Finland?
There's been quite a few cases of this, cutting costs in order to make more profit, closing down perfectly good manufacturing plants in favour of cheaper production in Asia.

What you describe here is more or less a forced retirement, but I'd say, if you don't suffer any substantial economic loss, go for it!
They simply don't deserve your service any longer, and you may be free to do what you want for the future.

Hi Jillyz12,

It is quite sad to hear that. Personally, I felt it should be handled in a more sensitive manner...

Here, in Singapore, they just passed a law stating that, any employee that has reached retirement age, the company are obliged, by law, to offer re-employment at status quo. I think that that is a good move as mature senior employees have much to contribute, not only in experience but skills as well.

I have heard of massive layoffs for employees here, in Singapore, sometime back, but these employees were given a severance package, not only that- the employees were referred alternative employments, either in the same industry or elsewhere, depending on their skills and expertise.

I hope this work out well for you, Maam...

Dam I feel like even the drug trade has better ethics then American corperations.
Feel sorry for you Jilly its a real kick in the guts in exchange for years of work. You would think that they would at least come and talk to your face.

Originally Posted by jillyz12

The huge international company I've worked for for 23 years announced yesterday...in an email to the employees...that in an effort to cut costs, 1000 jobs would be eliminated worldwide. In addition to that, any employee 57 years of age or older, with 7 or more years of service, was going to be offered voluntary retirement. Yep, I fit into that category.

It's a long story, too long to tell here, but the bottom line is that if you qualify for the early retirement but don't take it, there's no guarantee you'll have a job at the end of February. Has anything like this ever happened to anyone here? This company makes MILLIONS every year....they're definitely not hurting. I'll have a pension plus my 401K, and will be able to buy health insurance through them for a lot less than if I tried to get it on my own. I just can't believe the way it was handled. And the real kicker is, 2 hours after WE found out (and not even the supervisors were given a heads-up), the story appeared on the website of the local newspaper. Thanks for listening, everybody. I'm just a little bit shocky.

I worked for the Ford Motor Company at the Dagenham plant in UK. The management were always spreading rumours about redundancy (UK term for layoffs). In all the years I worked there I never felt secure, so when they offered voluntary redundancy I took it.

Welcome to the world of big business....

People are being reduced to consumables and it all started with modern American business practices being adopted.

One of the most visible signs of this was when Personnel Officers became Human Resources Managers, humans were reduced to being resources, commodities to be bought and sold at the absolute lowest price, just like a ton of rubble or a ream of paper. All consideration for their necessities of life were thrown out the window. Everyone was to be kept in fear of losing their job. This is the reason that you'll never see full employment again, as the whole idea runs on having a large pool of unemployed labour, so that no one can feel that they are of any value. These are the same people who complain that their employees no longer have any company loyalty.

None of them have stopped to think that the people they are keeping poor are their own potential customers. The money must be kept moving to generate a vibrant business environment, a bottle neck such as they have created will eventually return to sink their own ship. In the mean time they will have made a fortune and sold their business, they won't care. It's a short term greed that will eventually kill our country's economies

Ain't it grand?....

Have just read that the Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas Wind Systems announced it will cut 2,335 employees around the world, most of them at a Danish manufacturing plant, and said that 1,600 jobs at its Colorado factories could be eliminated “later this year” if a federal production tax credit isn’t extended beyond the end of 2012.

Originally Posted by headwards

Dam I feel like even the drug trade has better ethics then American corperations.
Feel sorry for you Jilly its a real kick in the guts in exchange for years of work. You would think that they would at least come and talk to your face.

Never met one but it seems a drug dealer would be nicer to do business with than a human resources manager.

Sorry that it was dealt with in such an insensitive manner, Jilly. I would take the redundancy and the early retirement, seems like the best bet. I can well understand your reaction to being told this.

Layoffs for reasons other than reduced demand, are common in the American business world. Tens of thousands of former American jobs have been sent overseas, for no other reason than the hourly wages are lower there. I don't mean to be insensitive (cause I feel sorry for the person who has to face this situation), but .. t!t-for-tat bubba .. t!t-for-tat.

To top it off, the American government has NOT addressed the job drain in a way that would hold American based companies accountable for their actions. For that reason alone, America's economy is in the toilet to the low point it is.