WDW IT Layoffs 1/30/2015

[ParentsOf4]

In this topic - its not about putting employess ahead of their bottom line... but rather a mindset that understands that reducing costs should not be the highest priority item in strategic decisions and that support services aren't just a cost of business but rather an asset that can advance the rest of the company. It's more about how InfoServices is seen in the business strategy of the organization. That's what's significant.

Well, in my experience, it often is overwhelmingly about the bottom line.

Corporate leadership is under constant pressure to improve margin. Those with backgrounds in finance see a cost number that's lower than the current cost number and they inevitably go with the lower number, often being ill-equipped to evaluate the true cost of that number.

In an environment such as this, and to @danlb_2000 's point, these companies inevitably put the bottom line ahead of their employees, failing to recognize the unidentified costs of doing so.

There once was a time when companies AND employees felt a loyalty to one another. In today's business environment where the CURRENT stock price is the only thing that truly matters to some corporate leadership, that loyalty has been cast aside.

 

[rob0519]

Well, in my experience, it often is overwhelmingly about the bottom line.

Corporate leadership is under constant pressure to improve margin. Those with background in finance see a cost number that's lower than the current cost number and they inevitably go with the lower number, often being ill-equipped to evaluate the true cost of that number.

In an environment such as this, and to @danlb_2000 's point, these companies inevitably put the bottom line ahead of its employees, failing to recognize the unidentified costs by doing so.

There once was a time when companies AND employees felt a loyalty to one another. In today's business environment where the CURRENT stock price is the only thing that truly matters to some corporate leadership, that loyalty has been cast aside.

Couldn't agree more. It's all about the bottom line. The people making these decisions have salaries much larger than the people they are putting out of work. It's not personal, it's just business. Unfortunately, the results for those out of work are very personal. I've seen it more than once. Twenty years ago there were huge layoffs in IT. At the time long term employees were let go for in a strictly financial decision and replaced with other laid off American workers who would work for less simply to have a job with benefits. Fast forward and now American workers are being laid off and replaced with foreign workers who will work for less and not question how many hours are needed to keep their jobs.

 

[flynnibus]

Well, in my experience, it often is overwhelmingly about the bottom line.

I know this is common - but again.. the context of the comments were back to creathir's comments about where they'd chose to work. And if you are in IT/IS... you'd much rather work in a company that sees IS as an asset or core principle to their strategic vision.. vs a company that sees IT/IS as a cost of business.

This tangent is not about 'good companies vs bad companies' - and who is a spreadsheet manager, etc... but rather about differentiating how businesses see and approach technology and services in their vision.

In the past, Ford may have seen supply chain management as a necessity to function... Toyota looked at it as a industry differentiator and focused on it to drive their business. If you are a specialist in that field... you wanted to work for Toyota, not Ford.

If your business hinges on something.. that area is the last area you will look to give up control and innovation in by outsourcing to lowest bidders to improve margins. It's about being a core competency vs a simple cost of business. And this is where leadership is critical in shopping companies. Every business is going to look to optimize... but you don't want to be in a company that doesn't even value what you do. That's the key message.

 

[flynnibus]

What is depressing about Disney in this thread is... NextGen as technology was meant to be this core competency that differentiated the Disney product. It has all the signs of saying "technology will be the foundation of what we do and differentiator in the market..." -- and then they turn around and try to take a core principle and contract it out (and not even augment.. but replace). That just shows incredibly bad leadership in their division and higher ranks. It's the kind of stuff every one with any experience knows is the short-sighted, painful way and usually delivers a subpar product.

Now maybe these guys were all working on less essential pieces to the solution and that's why they felt these tasks could be contracted out... none of us know that angle... but if you really value the delivery (and not just the ownership) of a quality product.. you don't swap out entire teams for contractors.

 

[danlb_2000]

I know this is common - but again.. the context of the comments were back to creathir's comments about where they'd chose to work. And if you are in IT/IS... you'd much rather work in a company that sees IS as an asset or core principle to their strategic vision.. vs a company that sees IT/IS as a cost of business.
.

I am in the IT/IS business and I clearly understand this, but the problem is you never know when a company will suddenly change their tune and see IT/IS as a place to cut costs. You also have to be concerned about acquisitions where the acquired company see IS as an asset, but the acquiring company doesn't. Bottom line is that I find it foolish to believe that any employer will always treat you fairly.

 

[flynnibus]

I am in the IT/IS business and I clearly understand this, but the problem is you never know when a company will suddenly change their tune and see IT/IS as a place to cut costs. You also have to be concerned about acquisitions where the acquired company see IS as an asset, but the acquiring company doesn't. Bottom line is that I find it foolish to believe that any employer will always treat you fairly.

Then you should strive to be successful enough to work where you want to work.. and not the other way around. If you don't like what leadership is doing and telegraphing.. speak with your feet. It's what I just did.. after 19 years of building a legacy in a company and industry... the company through acquisition and strategy changes marginalized what we did and changed how they handled personnel. So I left.. and told them outright that's why I left. When it was clear we would not be able to turn the tide back to what I believed in... it was time to go.

Nothing is forever... but bad management doesn't happen overnight either. That doesn't mean there isn't time you can look to and trust leadership.. just that nothing is forever and change is always around the corner.

 

[danlb_2000]

Then you should strive to be successful enough to work where you want to work.. and not the other way around. If you don't like what leadership is doing and telegraphing.. speak with your feet. It's what I just did.. after 19 years of building a legacy in a company and industry... the company through acquisition and strategy changes marginalized what we did and changed how they handled personnel. So I left.. and told them outright that's why I left. When it was clear we would not be able to turn the tide back to what I believed in... it was time to go.

This sounds exactly like my story. Fortunately I had time to get out since my job was not as easy to commoditize as others in the IT department.

 

[ParentsOf4]

What is depressing about Disney in this thread is... NextGen as technology was meant to be this core competency that differentiated the Disney product. It has all the signs of saying "technology will be the foundation of what we do and differentiator in the market..." -- and then they turn around and try to take a core principle and contract it out (and not even augment.. but replace). That just shows incredibly bad leadership in their division and higher ranks. It's the kind of stuff every one with any experience knows is the short-sighted, painful way and usually delivers a subpar product.

This is the part that concerns me the most about Disney's IT decision. Between My Disney Experience, MyMagic+, ticketing, hotel reservations, dining reservations, etc., Information Technology is a key component of WDW's core business.

That they handed over any part of it to a company with a reputation like HCL's strongly suggests that those who made the decision really didn't understand what they were doing.

Instead, they saw a number that was cheaper than anyone else and simply went with it. It points strongly to a decision where price was pretty much the only criteria.

 

[ford91exploder]

This is the part that concerns me the most about Disney's IT decision. Between My Disney Experience, MyMagic+, ticketing, hotel reservations, dining reservations, etc., Information Technology is a key component of WDW's core business.

That they handed over any part of it to a company with a reputation like HCL's strongly suggests that those who made the decision really didn't understand what they were doing.

Instead, they saw a number that was cheaper than anyone else and simply went with it. It points strongly to a decision where price was pretty much the only criteria.

The extended downtimes on critical systems seen over peak holidays since then tends to validate that analysis. What I do is fix systems after everyone else failed and i've seen the wreckage of this type of strategy too many times to count.

 

[Phil12]

Yup their great advantage is they are CHEAP, But the iron law of economics holds you get what you pay for.

I never pay retail.

 

[ParentsOf4]

I never pay retail.

But there is a difference between negotiating the price of a Toyota versus buying a Yugo.

In one case, you're after the best price possible for a quality product that can be relied upon to get the job done.

In the other case, you're paying bottom dollar for a piece of junk.

You can decide which way Disney appears to have gone.

 

[Texas84]

I'm in IT and got laid off today. Not because of foreign workers but because our company got sold off. Got a nice severance package with paid insurance through the end of the year so I'm OK. That's life.

 

[danlb_2000]

I'm in IT and got laid off today. Not because of foreign workers but because our company got sold off. Got a nice severance package with paid insurance through the end of the year so I'm OK. That's life.

I would call Donald Trump and see if he can get you your job back.

 

[rob0519]

I'm in IT and got laid off today. Not because of foreign workers but because our company got sold off. Got a nice severance package with paid insurance through the end of the year so I'm OK. That's life.

Sorry about your job, but glad you're ok. Like I said in a previous post, it's business on the decision maker's side, but personal on the worker's side.

A friend said his company just lost another hundred or so IT folks over the last 90 days. No outsourcing this time, just a reduction in payroll costs. They all got a severance package, pay and benefits, two weeks for every year of service up to 52 weeks maximum. Some will be ok, but most are worried anyway. It appears many of those affected were male and over 50. (Not uncommon in large established IT departments) Part of the severance agreement was that they would not take legal action against the company for their termination. Quite simply, sign this or your gone with nothing.

 

[danlb_2000]

I worked for a company once that changed their severance policy to cap it at 5 years of service and then two weeks later told us they were closing out plant and laying everyone off. The employees eventually won a class action lawsuit against the company over this.

 

[flynnibus]

By leaving on my own I got nothing.. no severance after 19 years.. and walked out on tons (like 6figures plus amount) of stock options.. but you gotta enjoy what you do or life sucks.. and I couldn't stomach it any longer. Instead of waiting to die, I chose to move into something good.

 

[rob0519]

By leaving on my own I got nothing.. no severance after 19 years.. and walked out on tons (like 6figures plus amount) of stock options.. but you gotta enjoy what you do or life sucks.. and I couldn't stomach it any longer. Instead of waiting to die, I chose to move into something good.

Congratulations on your decision. I hope that's worked out for you. It takes a lot of courage and the ability and confidence to replace what walked away from. I don't dislike my job enough to leave and layoffs and changes in business strategies in IT can happen anywhere. Fortunately, my specific function has been spared from staff reduction and outsourcing for the moment.

 

[ford91exploder]

But there is a difference between negotiating the price of a Toyota versus buying a Yugo.

In one case, you're after the best price possible for a quality product that can be relied upon to get the job done.

In the other case, you're paying bottom dollar for a piece of junk.

You can decide which way Disney appears to have gone.

Precisely

 

[ford91exploder]

Ultimately the layoff mania displayed by large US companies is going to hurt the economy at macro levels the main reason being that people will no longer have the confidence to make big ticket purchases like new homes, appliances and cars.

The problem is you cannot have a first world economy with no expectation of job security. The EU does it better with their long term unemployment policies but that makes companies reluctant to hire in the first place. Unfortunately in the US we have the worst of both systems i.e. unemployment running at EU levels and only short term unemployment which does not replace the level of income that the EU system does.

The goverment U3 unemployment number is the 'Happy Talk' number, The REAL unemployment number is the U6 rate.

http://www.macrotrends.net/1377/u6-unemployment-rate

 

[GhostHost1000]

Ya know based on some of the ways their websites have worked over the past few years I think they should have outsourced some of their management and project managers instead. Had no where to go but up