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Minx
Joined: 09 Dec 2006
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Location: France/Spain/Peterborough/Tenerife
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 Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 11:44 am Post subject: Jobs going at BMW |
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How ironic that the Unions are up in arms about agency workers being released at short notice due to the downturn.
I worked in HR for many years, and whenever we went into consultation over proposed redundancies the Union's first cry was "agency workers out!"
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Minx
To err is human, to forgive - canine. |
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gfloyd
Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 4861
Location: Here, There, Everywhere.
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| Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 12:18 pm Post subject: |
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Seems to be unavoidable if there are no buyers for the cars they are producing. Although apparently BT pays quite a few staff to do nothing (officially!) until they can find some work for them
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Minx
Joined: 09 Dec 2006
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Location: France/Spain/Peterborough/Tenerife
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| Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 12:30 pm Post subject: |
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You would have thought that with a bit of planning you would foresee a reduction in demand and start phasing out the level of agency staffing over a period of time. But what do I know????? 
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Minx
To err is human, to forgive - canine. |
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John W
Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 3367
Location: Warwickshire, UK
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| Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 12:46 pm Post subject: |
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| Minx wrote: | | You would have thought that with a bit of planning you would foresee a reduction in demand and start phasing out the level of agency staffing over a period of time. But what do I know????? |
Minx I think that's difficult on a car production line, imagine phasing out say the team that fits the brakes one month, and the team that fits the steering the next month and then the team that operates the paint shop..... |
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Rachel
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| Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 12:49 pm Post subject: |
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They'd never do that Minx, they have to pretend to the shareholders that they are doing really well:- then when the crunch comes they pretend to the shareholders that they are doing something big- making it look like they are in control of the situation, but the truth is, it's all just a big fat lie - even in the good times.
Where I used to work, the board would only declare sales up to the target set at corporate level- any additional sales would be kept under the boadroom table, to fill the gaps in sales later in the year or during periods of no sales. So it looked like they were doing really well- even in the lean times because they would declare the held back sales, and count them as order intake, making the forward workload look really busy- when in fact there was nothing to do and no orders to fill. Of course , when they run out of keepyback they have no clue what to do- so they sack everyone. It's completely illegal but all the big corporations do it- cos keeping the shareholders happy is paramount.
" But that's just a big fat lie" is a phrase I used in the boardroom almost every month when we went though our contract status reviews. |
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Minx
Joined: 09 Dec 2006
Posts: 4088
Location: France/Spain/Peterborough/Tenerife
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| Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 1:18 pm Post subject: |
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| John W wrote: |
Minx I think that's difficult on a car production line, imagine phasing out say the team that fits the brakes one month, and the team that fits the steering the next month and then the team that operates the paint shop..... |
I would have imagined that each team carried a core of permanent staff, supplemented by agency workers. That way, when the volume drops you can take out some of the agency workers on each team whilst maintaining the principal functions of the plant.
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Minx
To err is human, to forgive - canine. |
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Minx
Joined: 09 Dec 2006
Posts: 4088
Location: France/Spain/Peterborough/Tenerife
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| Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 1:27 pm Post subject: |
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| Rachel wrote: |
Where I used to work, the board would only declare sales up to the target set at corporate level- any additional sales would be kept under the boadroom table, to fill the gaps in sales later in the year or during periods of no sales. So it looked like they were doing really well- even in the lean times because they would declare the held back sales, and count them as order intake, making the forward workload look really busy- when in fact there was nothing to do and no orders to fill. Of course , when they run out of keepyback they have no clue what to do- so they sack everyone. It's completely illegal but all the big corporations do it- cos keeping the shareholders happy is paramount.
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Exactly what we used to do on contract reviews, where there was only a 3% margin. If there was some extra bunce available you kept it for a rainy day. It wasn't so much about keeping shareholders happy though, it was about keeping your job. You could lose that long before it got to the shareholders' attention. 
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Minx
To err is human, to forgive - canine. |
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Rachel
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| Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 1:38 pm Post subject: |
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| I think the ordinary Joe in the street has no clue just how fragile everything is. So much is taken for granted- so much trust, and all of it misplaced. |
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mark occomore
Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 9955
Location: UK
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| Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 5:15 pm Post subject: |
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| Giving only an hours notice your going to lose your job is outrages. How people treat there staff is disgusting. What the hell is going on in this country. Also where is Gordon Brown and the government etc they have not said a single thing. |
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John W
Joined: 07 Dec 2006
Posts: 3367
Location: Warwickshire, UK
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| Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 7:14 pm Post subject: |
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| Minx wrote: |
I would have imagined that each team carried a core of permanent staff, supplemented by agency workers. That way, when the volume drops you can take out some of the agency workers on each team whilst maintaining the principal functions of the plant. |
But the line needs a certain number of operatives if it is to run at a productive speed, so you can't reduce the line personnel by say 20%, you just have to plan ahead when to stop a whole shift e.g. the weekend shift |
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colby
Joined: 06 Feb 2009
Posts: 1216
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| Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2009 10:40 pm Post subject: |
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| mark occomore wrote: | | Giving only an hours notice your going to lose your job is outrages. How people treat there staff is disgusting. What the hell is going on in this country. Also where is Gordon Brown and the government etc they have not said a single thing. |
By the end of this month my wife will have been made redundant by a national retail network employer she has worked for over 19 years.
You could say: "What is Gordon Brown doing about this?" to which my wife would respond: "What does it have to do with Gordon Brown?". Is the government supposed to use even more of our money to keep her in a job?
No.
Should they do the same with BMW agency workers?
No.
What is going on in this country? Well, the money supply is limited due to the fact that we've all allowed the financial sector get away with blue murder that's what. Simple really. |
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