Quinn disects an internal EDS memo that was posted to InternalMemos.com quite well. Some choice comments:
[We plan to] “reduce our global work force by 3-4 percent over the next several quarters, beginning with 800 to 1,000 positions by year-end. These reductions will not impact service delivery to clients. Service excellence is the foundation of our business.”
That’s impossible. You cannot let even 20 people go and have it not affect service to customers. If McDonald’s loses one person, the goddamn drivethrough gets backed up. Take a lesson from the $3.99 burger industry, morons.
“We remain a profitable business with a steady revenue stream. Our credit rating remains solid. We will maintain adequate liquidity to pursue our business.”
So if you are profitable… why are letting thousands of people go? Why does a healthy company cut staff?
Great job Quinn.
3 Responses to “EDS is fucked up too”
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Not necessarily true. My company for instance, was overstaffed in 2001. Our consultants were only busy about 50% of the time. After a rather painful round of layoffs we have:
Profits (woo hoo no more losses)
Happier employees (well the ones still here anyway)
and
Clients who are just as happy. (This is really kind of key. We pretty much cut deadwood, and found out later many of the clients they served were unhappy with the services they got anyway.
Indeed. A healthy company can either a) realize that it is overstaffed and cut those jobs after the fact, or b) detect/foresee a downturn in their sales (be it seasonal, economic, or a shrinking market) and reduce staff to maintain profitability rather than waiting until they must do it to restore profitability.
Seibel, for instance, lays off 5% of its workforce every quarter. Because it’s company policy, they have the ability to expand or contract their workforce as needed, and nobody will even notice. Sneaky.
30% of our labor personnel were cut (non-professional). Those jobs each have a measurable workload. The people remaining pick up added work. This wasn’t the first cut and won’t be the last. The company grows and the associated workload increases. Basically, the laborers work until they either drop (leave), get injured, or die. Then they are replaced (maybe). Big population, fewer jobs, less money for labor is the success formula today. Go to a financial message board and type the subject rising unemployment, or benefits cut, and watch the stock rise. Bottom line: deal with it.