by Ken Kreps
©2000, all rights reserved
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August 31, 2000, E-week
Up to 30 percent of the company's 5,500 jobs could be on the line as Novell struggles to improve it's bottom line..........Novell is expected to announce a massive layoff -- as much as 30 percent of its 5,500-employee workforce -- in a cost-cutting move that could be announced as early as next week, sources close to the company said.
Bank of America May Cut 10,000 Jobs
July 28, 2000
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Bank of America Corp. will cut as many as 10,000 jobs across the country over the next year to improve its earnings and efficiency.
The cuts, about 7 percent of the Charlotte-based bank's 150,000-person work force, will focus on middle- and upper-level management as well as jobs made unnecessary by improvements in efficiency, the bank said Friday.
That was then and this is now and what a difference there is to behold. The United States worker, regardless of the color of their collar is now considered a disposable commodity. This situation is somewhat masked by one the lowest employment rates in US history and most people who want to work are working. Never the less, one needs only to pick up today's newspaper to see what's going on. Companies merge, slashing thousands of jobs in their organization or a company will simply exercise massive job cuts in it's work force to boost it's earnings. Either way, the stock holders win and the employees lose.
Here's an example. Widgets of America buys American widget, it's chief competitor. They immediately set out to cut all the fat (a great merger term) out of the new combined company. They do this by closing some widget plants and greatly reducing the management staff particularly where duplication exists. You have two Managers of Production Control. Easy.....lay one of them off. Two of this.....one goes. Two of that.....another goes. In many cases whole departments are deemed unnecessary and wiped out. Thousands lose their jobs and for what reason? So the company can run lean and mean and so the stock holders of the new widget company can make money. Businesses are now run for the stock holders first and everyone else (including the employees) comes second. Of course the top executives who were axed in the merger float to earth safely on their golden parachutes of stock options, bonuses and other perks often worth many millions of dollars. The rest are simply booted out the door without a parachute and left to their own devices. Sorry guys. Have a nice landing!!
Before you start to lay blame for this terrible situation, lets think about it. Shall we blame NAFTA, the WTO, Bill Clinton, George Bush (the older one), the Republicans, the Democrats, liberals or conservatives? The answer to all is yes. It's also no. Yes, they did nothing to help the situation and no, they didn't start it. It's been going on long before NAFTA or Bill Clinton or George Bush and the primary blame lies with the top management and governing boards of America's corporations. I often write about liberal vs. conservative issues. This isn't one of them. This issue touches us all.
It's been said that the American worker is no longer loyal to his or her employer. No argument there. Why should a worker be loyal to any employer that would discard them in a New York minute (regardless of their tenure or worth) if it meant more profit in the pockets of the stock holders, some of which, of course, are the companies' upper management.
I've worked for two companies that have merged and considering how long I toiled in technical sales and management and (prior to that) programming and systems work, I feel lucky it was only two.
In the first, I was with a national company that was purchased by another national company. Oh, they called it a merger, which is a soft word for "We just bought you, lock, stock and barrel." We were promised that no one would lose their job and no offices would be closed. Yes, of course and the Easter Bunny is really Dustin Hoffman. The bottom line was that a large office was closed, many lost their jobs and in the long run, the buying company couldn't handle the upkeep on the main software application which had prompted them to buy us in the first place and that too, went by the wayside. A total fiasco of greed, mismanagement and incompetence led to offices closing, jobs lost and products being squandered away. I wasn't one of the employees who lost their job, but many of my friends and associates were and the company that was left was much less efficient than were either of the two individual companies prior to the merger. That was eight years ago and now, strangely enough, the company that bought us was, itself, purchased by a larger company only a few months ago. And so the cycle begins once again with more closed offices, broken promises and lost jobs. What goes around certainly comes around in the world of mergers and acquisitions.
My second experience was when a local company I was working for was purchased by another local company. This time the owner of the purchasing company turned out to be an inept crook and within months the whole scheme fell apart with many lost jobs and much money owed to employees. My own claim for money owed is still floating somewhere through the state labor system and who knows what will ever become of it.
Many CEO's, CFO's and board chairman of American Companies are in a word, selfish and greedy and have no feeling for the workers in their company, one way or the other. The automobile industry is often the most visible in this respect as they have decimated entire cities with their widespread layoffs, but they are by no means alone. The worker in today's society is as disposable as a printer's ink cartridge when it's empty. They're simple discarded. Yes, some companies offer re-training or job placement assistance, but rarely is this effective for a large number of the displaced workers who mainly are left to fend for themselves.
As I mentioned earlier, we have quite low unemployment in the country now and that helps mask the displaced worker problem. Even so, some older workers are forced to take lower paying jobs and, indeed, some get discouraged and never work again.
Workers who belong to unions often find that unions offer no protection. Most unions have for years been more interested in the large sums in their treasury than in helping their members. Remember, the construction of some of the casinos in Las Vegas was funded by Teamster loans.
Professional associations may have more noble intentions than most unions, but they fare no better in stopping the flood of company buyouts.
As a technical sales rep or manager for the various companies for which I worked, I always considered myself to be a hired gun with job security no better than my last sale or sales would indicate. Even good sales is no guarantee as years ago, I was laid off from a company even though my sales were above my million dollar per year quota. They called it a reorganization.....I called it a.....well never mind as I try to use civilized language when I write.
I enjoyed my twenty plus years in technical sales. I made excellent money, met and worked for many fine people, had clients who became friends and all in all, look back on those years with great fondness. I'm awfully glad it happened, but I wouldn't want to do it now.
I don't have an answer as to how to stop these mergers, but I do have a bit of advice. Protect yourself. Know who your competitors are and who to contact at a competitor if things turn sour at your present job. Listen and observe what's going on in your company. Sometimes the early signs of an acquisition can be heard if you listen carefully. Above all, never assume that the great job you have will last forever as they almost never do.
Watch, listen, learn and protect. Watch what's going on in your company, listen to what's being said, learn about your industry, and protect your well being. Good luck!!
©2000 by Ken Kreps. This article may not be re-published in electronic or print media without the express written permission of the author. All rights reserved.
Ken Kreps lives in the Pacific Northwest with his wife. He has written a number of published articles, essays and short stories, as well as numerous consumer and business pieces. Ken has also written scripts for Imagination Theater, an award winning audio drama series heard on over 150 commercial radio stations across the nation.