Obligatory disclaimers: Very long, not my story, posting on mobile, TL;DR at end.
This happened to a former colleague about one month ago. We'll call him Ed. I'm telling his story as closely as I can but I have to be intentionally vague to avoid identifying the company because I'm also taking legal action against them.
The fundamental misunderstanding of the employer-employee relationship in Ed's story is exactly the same as in my situation and shows they haven't changed their behavior. I'll share that story when things settle down and I'm out of my probationary period at my new job.
Ed is an engineer in a Tier 1 automotive company (meaning they are a direct supplier to OEMs). They are one of a small number of big companies that make what they do. I worked alongside Ed for many years. About 5 years ago I moved to a different location within the company and we kept in touch. I recently left the company for reasons I can't go into here.
Last month, 15 or so people from various departments were summoned to an all-day, off-site meeting. There was no agenda, only a short statement about streamlining workflows and improving business efficiency. Sent separately on the morning of the meeting was a densely-worded 4 page document on new engineering workflows. Everyone had been told they don't need to bring laptops, this was a day off from normal work (very rare even for training days). Some of the work-all-hours types still brought theirs but Ed and most others had to read this PDF on their phones.
Ed showed me some screenshots and the document is very difficult to read without zooming in. There's a lot of text in a small font and very few diagrams or figures. On a phone (as opposed to on paper) it's virtually impossible to flick back and forth between sections or make notes. On the last page it asks for a signature to “accept the terms and conditions set out above” – unusual wording for a business process.
After a brief introduction from the head of engineering, everyone was split into small groups or pairs and assigned a conference room for the day. Ed was paired with Cassie (not her real name, obviously) and theirs was a medium sized room with a glass wall looking out into a co-working space with other meeting rooms along the sides. The group/room assignments seemed to be cross-functional and semi-random. Cassie works in Finance and has nothing to do with Engineering.
There is some speculation on Ed's part here, mostly around the motive for why the situation was handled the way it was, although I agreed he was likely correct based on what happened later.
Whoever assigned the groups assumed, correctly, that without a clear agenda or structure, Ed and Cassie would spend most of the day goofing off and not actually spend much time reading the document they had been sent.
What the organizers apparently did not know is that Ed and Cassie are good friends outside of work. Cassie went to university with Ed's wife, and Cassie's husband Bill started his first graduate job at a previous company the week before Ed started there, and a few years ago Bill joined this company and now works with Ed again. I think Bill was actually the backfill for my position which took a long time to get approval even though my own move took well over a year to get everything in place, because HR.
Fast forward to 3pm and the engineering staff are summoned to meet with the head of engineering, head of HR, and another guy. They don't go to one of the many meeting rooms but in an open area at one corner of the co-working space. There are 10 people in total: the 3 I just mentioned plus Ed, Bill, a product integrity specialist (PI – they maintain documentation, bills of materials, etc. in the company's systems) and a junior designer who both work in the Design office with Ed and Bill, as well as two supplier quality engineers (SQE) and a supplier development engineer (SDE) who all work in the Quality office, and work with Design regularly.
One of the SQEs recognized the other guy as the head of engineering from a different location, in another country. I won't attempt to make up a local name for him, so let's call him Jim.
Jim's division of the company is located in a low-cost country with a strong engineering and manufacturing industry and where good English language skills are common. Think Mexico, India, China, etc. The actual country is not relevant to the story. This company has engineering centers in 5 countries, mostly North America and Europe, and more manufacturing locations in another 6 countries in Asia and Eastern Europe.
As for the head of engineering, I don't personally know him. Ed tells me he hasn't been in the job very long after the previous head (who was actually on secondment from my location) suddenly left to join a well-known manufacturer of wind turbines. Ed's location have had 4 different heads of engineering since I joined 10 years ago. All 4 were internal hires and the first two (before the wind turbine guy) went on to other jobs within the company. Meanwhile my location has been run by the same 3 people the whole time I was with the company.
So, 3pm: the head of engineering, with Jim and the head of HR standing by to answer questions, explains the new work flow processes. He asks who has read the document which Ed and Bill haven't, at least not properly. Essentially, most engineering work, from drawings to APQP to validation and PPAP, will now be handled by Jim's team. The design and quality engineers will receive reports and have the final say to approve the work or send it back.
A big part of the plan is that the engineers will have new job titles and salaries. They are all different but in Ed's case it's a 40% cut.
This is not well received. When challenged, HR head explains the key point is the new titles: they are not receiving a pay cut; their current positions are being eliminated as part of the reorganization and they are being offered alternative positions under the new engineering structure.
SQE1 is the work-all-hours type and brought his laptop so he could keep on top of his day job while off site. He is also very knowledgeable and extremely detail oriented. He's been with the company for 25 years. He has read and scrutinized every single word of that document. He is livid and rips into HR and engineering for a solid 5 minutes then walks out the door without giving them a chance to respond.
SQE2 is in his 60s, has been with the company 30+ years and is planning to retire soon. He shakes his head and silently leaves.
The SDE has been with the company on and off for 12 of the last 20 years, with 8 years since he rejoined. He tells the 3 heads “This is bullsh*t” and follows the SQEs out.
Side note: I saw on LinkedIn 3 weeks ago (before Ed told me about all of this) that the SDE had started a new job as a procurement manager for a local construction company and messaged him. That company has been awarded a big road contract in my area and his new job is buying the machines and equipment to do that work. He said he'd been looking to leave for a while and decided the time was right. Now I know why!
The PI accepted. His job won't change much under the new structure and he's sure it will quickly fail and go back to the way things were.
The junior designer joined the company a couple years ago from one of our suppliers for small parts like hoses and clamps. He was excited for the chance to do something more interesting and it came with a sizable pay increase. He accepted because even after the pay cut, he'll be making more than he did at his old job.
Ed and Bill both declined to sign. Ed plans to stay on at his current position for as long as possible while looking for other jobs.
By now Jim, the overseas head of engineering, is visibly conflicted. His team is set to expand hugely to cover the new workload coming their way. However he's just seen decades of engineering expertise literally walk out the door.
Management seem to have made the bet that everyone will sign up and be grateful to still have a job. It has backfired spectacularly.
They told me the exact same thing and I got a new job at 15% higher pay than they offered me. F*ck that company.
I spent some time trying to clarify things (without letting Ed know I was planning to post this) and one I couldn't get to the bottom of was the timing. According to Ed, the document they were asked to sign did not list an implementation date for the new org structure and job roles. Having worked for the company myself for many years, I believe the intention was to get pre-approval from everyone ahead of time, and the actual implementation date will be announced later, probably vague like “target Q2 2024” rather than an actual date. After that date the pre-signatures will take effect and new contracts issued. The legality of this is up for debate, I guess.
Since the off-site day, not much has really happened. There have been no communications from HR and no outward signs that things are either on hold or going ahead as planned.
The SDE left within a week and we've seen that he already started a new job. SQE2 is moving up his retirement date since his pension is dependent on his final salary – it's in his interest to get out ASAP.
It has been radio silence from SQE1. This is a guy who would – with the best of intentions – email you at 10:57pm on a Saturday asking for a complete redesign by close of business on Tuesday. The suspicion is he has lawyered up and either been told to cut all communication with anyone in the company, or done that pre-emptively while he chooses a lawyer. Either way, no one has seen or heard from him since the off-site day.
Ed and Bill are still considering their options but it looks clear that they will be leaving. My new company is much bigger and snaps up engineering talent when an opportunity presents itself. I've put forward both of their names internally. I said I'll split the referral bonus if they get in.
TL;DR: Engineering company tries to outsource engineering work and cut pay, half the team walks.
Note on industry terms:
APQP: Advance Product Quality Planning – will the product meet requirements?
PPAP: Production Part Approval Process – does the product meet requirements?