I think I work for a mini Enron ! (long)
 

I'm a little pi$$ed right now and need to vent !
I work for a Tier 1 automotive supplier, actually I believe it might be one of the largest minority owned supplier. Well it is a pretty successful company, it used to produce quality parts and had a good rep with one of the major auto companies.
Well in the past year things have REALLY started to change. The company started a joint venture with another Tier 1 supplier which more than doubled the possible revenue. What helped my company buy into this venture was revenue supplied to them from a major corporate investor. Buy 2005 it was supposed to make this company a 1.5 billion a year company.
Well lets talk about the owners of my company , husband and wife, a lawyer and an engineer. They live a mile or so from the office. They have, servents, drivers and they just set there two college freshman children up in a $500,000 house on the east coast, they attend some Ivy leaque college. They also are building some huge (15,000 sq ft ) in AZ on there own golf course. They just took 15-20 people to Thailand for a week ,some of them sales people, some VP's and some Major auto company people. This was frowned upon by the Major auto company because lately quality has been on a steady down hill slide. Then they also took some people (10) from the office on a weekend to Cancun.
Now up until now all this sounds like a pretty positive place to work , well it was . About a year ago one of the engineers was pi$$ed because the owner switched to a different material to run in the plants which made terrible parts and will tear up the tools, but it is very cheap. So now we are running material that is going to ruin our tools at the plants.
Also , being a minority supplier , the company gets grants from the state for training of it's employees. Well it is a fact that we have no more training or tuition reimbersment. Also when we have a big meeting they ask us to sign some papers. Well I have been told that we have gotten the grants and all the money is gone, and the reason we sign in for a meeting is the owners claim that is is a training seminar. Gee , I wonder where the money is going ?!?!?
Another thing is we are busy as hell , but I have been told that they are laying off 30% of the design staff. I will most likely be out of a job within two months. All this work is being outsource and the quality of it has become a joke at a certain auto company.
I can just see the owners pulling out at the last minute , leaving the investers and the company high and dry !
Its just a shame that people like this will never be touched they will walk out with fat pockets. While the rest of us are left looking for jobs !
I don't want to sound like i'm whining , I do not plan on sitting around and waiting for the axe to fall. The wheels are already in motion. It's just a shame that what could be a great company iis going down !
Well I've said enough.. anyone looking for an SDRC designer ?!?

I'm also A SDRC Designer. Things are going a little better for me.
Who is your employer?

BUMMER!!!

Sounds just like the place I work at.
We were on the high road to prosperity when the general manager passed away. The Board of Directors appointed one of the VP's to replace him then proceeded to run the company into the ground. We had over 1000 eployees then, now we're down to less than 200.
The manager made enemies of our customers (the military) and one branch vowed that if they had their way we'd never get another contract.
The Board hired a new CEO to take charge and his first decision was to fire the general manager and the top 3 VP's. That was 6 years ago. We still can't get work.
The company buildings and property are for sale, as well as the company. We were told that when the property is sold the money will not go back into the company. They wouldn't tell us where it'll go ($14+ million ).
We also heard that our savings/investment/401-K account produced a dividend that was to be disbursed to all the enployees. The front office figured it would be a couple thousand and they'd pocket it themselves. When the check arrived it was for 1.5 million. They had no choice but to give it to us. They couldn't hide that much money.
Anyhow, I understand what you're going through. I'll soon be looking for a new job myself. After 14 years it'll be hard to leave.
Good luck.

Sounds like a sad state of affairs. Sorry to hear it, bro! Might want to start shopping around now! If news of their frivilous spending habbits leaks out, there's no telling the cascading effect it may have....Just look at what happened to Xnetix.

The owners might be related! :D ;)

i have a good buddy who is going through similar trouble at a similar company in MI. they design prototypes for Ford. he's in a bit of a crunch, but has been exploring exit strategies for a while.

RULE # 1: ALWAYS HAVE AN EXIT STRATEGY!

good luck.

I've definitly been working on an exit strategy ! Not too much out there at the moment.

Sheuer10 ,
I'd rather not say the company name at the moment .
If you want email or PM me .
By the way is your company hiring ?;)

26Scarab, There was an article in the April 6 Detroit Free Press about a company doing similar things. http://www.freep.com/money/business/fund6_20020406.htm

If this isn't the one you're talking about, it's scary to think there's more out there than this one...

Christine

I read that article , that was about Detroit Center Tool. It is a shame what that company did. The people that caused that should be considered criminals !
Unfortunalty the company I'm talking about is not that one.

Can't be Cat, we don't let minorities in, remember:rolleyes: