Ford Engineer Redundancies
Discussion
Here we go again.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-1973011...
Highly qualified engineers, which this country desperately needs, rather than investment bankers (gamblers), are being dumped. Of the 500 to go in Europe, more than half are from the UK. Probably because our employment laws make it easier to dump UK citizens. If this country wasn't dominated by Global (foreign) companies, we'd be more in charge of our destiny. Incidentally, the HQ of Ford Europe was in Essex originally, but when the Germans began throwing the weight around, it was moved there. The Ford office in Brentwood is now Ford Finance. And we're now busy putting BAE into German/French hands. Opps, sorry, control. Don't we ever learn?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-1973011...
Highly qualified engineers, which this country desperately needs, rather than investment bankers (gamblers), are being dumped. Of the 500 to go in Europe, more than half are from the UK. Probably because our employment laws make it easier to dump UK citizens. If this country wasn't dominated by Global (foreign) companies, we'd be more in charge of our destiny. Incidentally, the HQ of Ford Europe was in Essex originally, but when the Germans began throwing the weight around, it was moved there. The Ford office in Brentwood is now Ford Finance. And we're now busy putting BAE into German/French hands. Opps, sorry, control. Don't we ever learn?
doogz said:
If we desperately need qualified engineers, 250 are about to become available.
There are plenty of engineering jobs out there at the moment. Obviously, it's not good news, but it's not a bad time to be looking for a new job in engineering, there are lots to choose from.
This, it's not nice for the people involved (although it does say it will all be voluntary) but there are plenty of well known firms around that are hiring at the moment.There are plenty of engineering jobs out there at the moment. Obviously, it's not good news, but it's not a bad time to be looking for a new job in engineering, there are lots to choose from.
We need more engineering jobs, and more engineers, not move the few we've got because their existing job had gone up in smoke. And if you live in Essex, like I do, close to Dunton, er, sorry, no engineering done here nowdays. Hence my commuting away from home, all over the country, for the last 15 yrs. Current location, Yeovil. Working for an Italian helicopter company!
Sorry, I think your point is missing the whole point. Obviously it's sad that people are losing their jobs, but that's part of life. If you want to complain about something, think more about BAE and EADS!!
The demand for new cars has gone down, therefore they must reorganise to absorb it. Demand for their cars is at the lowest level in 7 years (I think).
Ford still have a big engineering function in Dunton in Essex. In recent years, Brentwood has always been a Finance hub.
Let's not forget that they were one of the only big manufacturers that didn't need a bail out....this is the latest measures to ensure that they don't and can continue to produce class leading vehicles.
There has been a recent trend of trying to standardise their models across the globe. For example, we're actually sharing cars with USA for the first time, and following this ethos it's inevitable that there's reductions on the horizon. They're a US company, with manufacturing in Belgium/Germany, so their allegiance to the UK is not a major factor.
The demand for new cars has gone down, therefore they must reorganise to absorb it. Demand for their cars is at the lowest level in 7 years (I think).
Ford still have a big engineering function in Dunton in Essex. In recent years, Brentwood has always been a Finance hub.
Let's not forget that they were one of the only big manufacturers that didn't need a bail out....this is the latest measures to ensure that they don't and can continue to produce class leading vehicles.
There has been a recent trend of trying to standardise their models across the globe. For example, we're actually sharing cars with USA for the first time, and following this ethos it's inevitable that there's reductions on the horizon. They're a US company, with manufacturing in Belgium/Germany, so their allegiance to the UK is not a major factor.
I should expand. Virtually no engineering done in Essex to any degree. Example. Yr 1963. Chelmsford. GEC;Hoffman Bearings;English Electric;Crompton Parkinson;Marconi Radar;Marconi Marine. Lots of small companies as subcontractors. Today. None, bar a smaller version of EE, and Marconi Research in Baddow now BAE, a fraction of it's former self.
robinessex said:
Here we go again.
You said it, but when I interpreted your first sentence, my thought was "here we go again, another post about how blighty never takes care of its own". And you know what? I was right."If this country wasn't dominated by Global (foreign) companies, we'd be more in charge of our destiny."
Yeah? So what? The UK had plenty of car companies, and all the volume ones have either failed or been sold off.
Has it made a difference to how many cars the country makes? No.
Where the HQ of the parent corporation is makes bugger all difference to local people getting paid at the end of the month.
It's not even an ownership question - they are all corporations with stock ownership spread amongst people and institiutions all over the world. This isn't the early 1900s where a single person owned a company. It's not worked like that for decades.
Blighty is home to various BMW, GM, Honda, Nissan and Toyota plants, and plenty of other foreign manufacturers on top.
The important thing is making the UK a good place to do business.
As to the "250 qualified engineers" (which will likely include non-engineers, and managers - that sort of thing) who will be made redundant, that's a shame for them in the short term, but if they are good they will find work as long as they are prepared to look for it. At the moment, it's a voluntary redundancy scheme.
Ford lost a billion dollars in Europe this year. That's not the sort of money that can continue to be lost.
C
Agreed this country has a shortage of engineers. Part of the problem is that to most of the general public an engineer is someone who comes out to fix your washing machine. Too late to sort that out now, but if we were starting again, to be called an engineer you should need as a minimum a degree in an engineering discipline and CEng membership. In contrast to the UK, eight out of nine members of the Chinese Politburo have engineering degrees.
Sure, I'd hope that the engineers laid off will soon find work elsewhere but having to up sticks with a settled family is never fun. Perhaps Ford will reap what they sow when they find they need to recruit again and have to pay over the odds to those who remember their history; it's certainly happened to other companies in the past which subsequently had to settle for weaker candidates at higher wages when the eventual upturn happened. Meanwhile students looking at potential degrees will see one less reason to study engineering here.
Sure, I'd hope that the engineers laid off will soon find work elsewhere but having to up sticks with a settled family is never fun. Perhaps Ford will reap what they sow when they find they need to recruit again and have to pay over the odds to those who remember their history; it's certainly happened to other companies in the past which subsequently had to settle for weaker candidates at higher wages when the eventual upturn happened. Meanwhile students looking at potential degrees will see one less reason to study engineering here.
CraigyMc said:
You said it, but when I interpreted your first sentence, my thought was "here we go again, another post about how blighty never takes care of its own". And you know what? I was right.
"If this country wasn't dominated by Global (foreign) companies, we'd be more in charge of our destiny."
Yeah? So what? The UK had plenty of car companies, and all the volume ones have either failed or been sold off.
Has it made a difference to how many cars the country makes? No.
Where the HQ of the parent corporation is makes bugger all difference to local people getting paid at the end of the month.
It's not even an ownership question - they are all corporations with stock ownership spread amongst people and institiutions all over the world. This isn't the early 1900s where a single person owned a company. It's not worked like that for decades.
Blighty is home to various BMW, GM, Honda, Nissan and Toyota plants, and plenty of other foreign manufacturers on top.
The important thing is making the UK a good place to do business.
As to the "250 qualified engineers" (which will likely include non-engineers, and managers - that sort of thing) who will be made redundant, that's a shame for them in the short term, but if they are good they will find work as long as they are prepared to look for it. At the moment, it's a voluntary redundancy scheme.
Ford lost a billion dollars in Europe this year. That's not the sort of money that can continue to be lost.
C
+1 Saved me posting."If this country wasn't dominated by Global (foreign) companies, we'd be more in charge of our destiny."
Yeah? So what? The UK had plenty of car companies, and all the volume ones have either failed or been sold off.
Has it made a difference to how many cars the country makes? No.
Where the HQ of the parent corporation is makes bugger all difference to local people getting paid at the end of the month.
It's not even an ownership question - they are all corporations with stock ownership spread amongst people and institiutions all over the world. This isn't the early 1900s where a single person owned a company. It's not worked like that for decades.
Blighty is home to various BMW, GM, Honda, Nissan and Toyota plants, and plenty of other foreign manufacturers on top.
The important thing is making the UK a good place to do business.
As to the "250 qualified engineers" (which will likely include non-engineers, and managers - that sort of thing) who will be made redundant, that's a shame for them in the short term, but if they are good they will find work as long as they are prepared to look for it. At the moment, it's a voluntary redundancy scheme.
Ford lost a billion dollars in Europe this year. That's not the sort of money that can continue to be lost.
C
robinessex said:
Here we go again.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-1973011...
Highly qualified engineers, which this country desperately needs, rather than investment bankers (gamblers), are being dumped. Of the 500 to go in Europe, more than half are from the UK. Probably because our employment laws make it easier to dump UK citizens. If this country wasn't dominated by Global (foreign) companies, we'd be more in charge of our destiny. Incidentally, the HQ of Ford Europe was in Essex originally, but when the Germans began throwing the weight around, it was moved there. The Ford office in Brentwood is now Ford Finance. And we're now busy putting BAE into German/French hands. Opps, sorry, control. Don't we ever learn?
The domination of foreign companies (as you put it)has been a blessing for South West Essex in the last 50 years. Ford has brought real prosperity to this part of Essex and many men and women have made their careers at Warley and Dunton and will continue to do so.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-1973011...
Highly qualified engineers, which this country desperately needs, rather than investment bankers (gamblers), are being dumped. Of the 500 to go in Europe, more than half are from the UK. Probably because our employment laws make it easier to dump UK citizens. If this country wasn't dominated by Global (foreign) companies, we'd be more in charge of our destiny. Incidentally, the HQ of Ford Europe was in Essex originally, but when the Germans began throwing the weight around, it was moved there. The Ford office in Brentwood is now Ford Finance. And we're now busy putting BAE into German/French hands. Opps, sorry, control. Don't we ever learn?
As you state Warley no longer houses Europe HQ, but it still houses Ford of Britain, as well as Ford Credit and in total, Ford of Britain and its dealers employ around 35,000 people in product development, manufacturing, sales and marketing,and service roles in the UK.
All redundancies will be voluntary.
Anyone who has worked for Ford for any period of time will be used to the growth and reduction of employees as the market dictates, and no doubt some employees will be very content to cash in their chips and start a early retirement just like my old man did.
Edited by sday12 on Thursday 27th September 14:54
doogz said:
seanh said:
Agreed this country has a shortage of engineers. Part of the problem is that to most of the general public an engineer is someone who comes out to fix your washing machine. Too late to sort that out now, but if we were starting again, to be called an engineer you should need as a minimum a degree in an engineering discipline and CEng membership. In contrast to the UK, eight out of nine members of the Chinese Politburo have engineering degrees.
Sure, I'd hope that the engineers laid off will soon find work elsewhere but having to up sticks with a settled family is never fun. Perhaps Ford will reap what they sow when they find they need to recruit again and have to pay over the odds to those who remember their history; it's certainly happened to other companies in the past which subsequently had to settle for weaker candidates at higher wages when the eventual upturn happened. Meanwhile students looking at potential degrees will see one less reason to study engineering here.
Since you're talking about engineering, you'll be aware what's generally required to achieve chartered status?Sure, I'd hope that the engineers laid off will soon find work elsewhere but having to up sticks with a settled family is never fun. Perhaps Ford will reap what they sow when they find they need to recruit again and have to pay over the odds to those who remember their history; it's certainly happened to other companies in the past which subsequently had to settle for weaker candidates at higher wages when the eventual upturn happened. Meanwhile students looking at potential degrees will see one less reason to study engineering here.
So what happens for those 4 or 5 years between graduating, and achieving chartered status? You're not an engineer?
I agree, the man that came and fitted my sky dish is not an engineer, but I think you're getting a bit carried away there.
"Up to 275 jobs could be lost at Ford sites in Essex as part of the company's redundancy programme, a union claims."
Note the inclusion of the word "claims", which usually means it's a rumour started by somebody in the union with an axe to grind.
I always take what unions "claim" with several articulated lorries full of sodium chloride.
Note the inclusion of the word "claims", which usually means it's a rumour started by somebody in the union with an axe to grind.
I always take what unions "claim" with several articulated lorries full of sodium chloride.
UK PLC ... based around finance institutions......
The UK does have some of the worlds most talented engineers. Danny Boyles olympic opening ceremony reminded me of that - and it still applies today. Just look at some of the ground breaking technologies that are invented/ started within the UK.
Also, the UK has the ability to manufacture cars (plus other goods) very successfully (examples include, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Mini, Rolls, Bentley all with UK manufacturing sites)
The weak link is investment (finance) to properly set-up manufacturing plants - foreign investors (companies) seem to do this quite well within the UK (see above).
I can symphasize with this dilemma within the company I work for. We are chronically under invested, but return good margins to our parent company. The opportunities to grow further are there, if investment was made (this includes personnel, equipment and infrastructure) but ROIs are too long for the corporate investors who are looking for a quick kill to sell us, to the next investors to do the same.....
Quite depressing really.....
The UK does have some of the worlds most talented engineers. Danny Boyles olympic opening ceremony reminded me of that - and it still applies today. Just look at some of the ground breaking technologies that are invented/ started within the UK.
Also, the UK has the ability to manufacture cars (plus other goods) very successfully (examples include, Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Mini, Rolls, Bentley all with UK manufacturing sites)
The weak link is investment (finance) to properly set-up manufacturing plants - foreign investors (companies) seem to do this quite well within the UK (see above).
I can symphasize with this dilemma within the company I work for. We are chronically under invested, but return good margins to our parent company. The opportunities to grow further are there, if investment was made (this includes personnel, equipment and infrastructure) but ROIs are too long for the corporate investors who are looking for a quick kill to sell us, to the next investors to do the same.....
Quite depressing really.....
robinessex said:
Here we go again.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-1973011...
Highly qualified engineers, which this country desperately needs, rather than investment bankers (gamblers), are being dumped. Of the 500 to go in Europe, more than half are from the UK. Probably because our employment laws make it easier to dump UK citizens. If this country wasn't dominated by Global (foreign) companies, we'd be more in charge of our destiny. Incidentally, the HQ of Ford Europe was in Essex originally, but when the Germans began throwing the weight around, it was moved there. The Ford office in Brentwood is now Ford Finance. And we're now busy putting BAE into German/French hands. Opps, sorry, control. Don't we ever learn?
remind me.. how many investment bankers does Ford employ?http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-1973011...
Highly qualified engineers, which this country desperately needs, rather than investment bankers (gamblers), are being dumped. Of the 500 to go in Europe, more than half are from the UK. Probably because our employment laws make it easier to dump UK citizens. If this country wasn't dominated by Global (foreign) companies, we'd be more in charge of our destiny. Incidentally, the HQ of Ford Europe was in Essex originally, but when the Germans began throwing the weight around, it was moved there. The Ford office in Brentwood is now Ford Finance. And we're now busy putting BAE into German/French hands. Opps, sorry, control. Don't we ever learn?
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