When Will the Layoffs Start?

By Mark Evans | Published: February 2, 2009

Nortel Restructuring
There’s a lot of chatter among the AAN comments about Nortel starting to let go large numbers of employees as part of the restructuring.

You have to wonder how close to the bone Nortel is going to go given the bankruptcy filing will let the company “put Nortel on sounding financing footing once and for all”.

For people who see the glass as half empty or expect Nortel to go deep, the news about handing over its R&D campus in Ottawa to the federal government could be a sign of things to come.

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  • NTHATER

    Thank you, exnt! They are all willing to take the credit and a bonus while the company is bleeding money but want to play the blame game now….I know a few that are left and all they know is powerpoint.

  • NTHATER

    So, expert, take a look at the sentence:The vast majority of Nortel employees are dedicating and hard-working individuals…..
    See anything wrong with the use of the word 'dedicating'? Good thing you only do powerpoint…..

  • NortelTragedy

    “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” ~Abraham Lincoln

  • Dont_Believe_The_Zhype

    OK mate we get the idea.

    If you'd leave this forum to constructive comments I'm sure we'd all appreciate it.

    Tks all the same

  • Nortel_Sucker

    You are probably one of the totally useless ones that actually got fired for incompetence which is next to impossible at Nortel. How did you do it? Your in a league of your own. Does your “new” line of work have something to do with French Fries?

  • scalpcutter

    That's a good one.
    Employees can blame management and tell their prospective employer how bad management was at NT with examples, when they are on their job search.
    Might get them hired?

  • scalpcutter

    You are talking about executives/management only here right?

  • scalpcutter

    ha

  • help_me

    …As well MEN is old news. … – what did you like to say?

  • tryn2makealivin

    NTHATER was obvisously one of the low performers let go.

  • 1derY

    He's bitter old fart who didnt survive the purge by the LSS young 'uns and Z's elite members.

    At least he still retains the COCOS skill on his resume and somehow got a job…I dont' believe for a bit that he's an exec..else that company is screwed!.

    However there are quite a few old farts like him that are still a few around and have turned themselves around into a GBs/BBs/MBBs nicely.

  • nt_photo

    This video has done the rounds as a Nikon D3 rant.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnwf2RShNV0

  • forgive

    Just wonder how come NT turns to BK with so many “top performers” still working for Nortel, These top performers should be much smarter than the guys let go earlier, right? Smarter “top performances” made this company into BK protection. LOL

    “I believed” Nortel would never go to BK, because low performers were all let go. Top performers and BK? Thinks about it! LOL

  • tryn2makealivin

    Do you honestly think the top of the company is ranked?

  • less

    rank

  • Doggerel

    Carling might go to the federal government, but who's going to lease the space where the executive team's conscience was?

  • forgive

    As I said before, the whole Nortel ranking and performance evaluation system are totally mess and upside down.

    I won't be surprised to see Nortel goes to BK, because many much valuable employees were let go just for unknown reasons or ranking. while many remaining folks only know powerpoint b*llsh*t (tell you the truth, some even don't know how to make professional powerpoint slides.

    One JCI3 tech. guy did lots of detailed tech works for his organization, he was laid off for ironic “LC”, his job was then distributed to 2 full time JCI4 guys and 1 full time JCI 3 guy. Cost savings! Bravo!

    At the time when one JCI2 tech guy was laid off,there were 2-3 JCI4/5 guys hiding in the group doing nothing but meeting. To the surprise of director who laid off this guy, this JCI2 was doing equavalant JCI4 job in the company before he joined Nortel. When he worked for that company, only 2 persones were needed to take care of all the new releases and support of a product which requires 15-20 people in Nortel to do the same amount of job.

    Most of remaining guys in Nortel still don't have any clue how and why they lose in the battle and game.

  • Tk910

    Chu Chang, is that you? This is your mother. Are you down in the basement again playing on the computer? You just wait until your father gets home – he's going to ground you again and this time your manager at the Jamba Juice isn't going to cut you any slack. Oh, and it's your turn to wash the dishes, so get back upstairs and get to work. Please feed the cat, too.

  • felixmk

    Can you spell TROLL?

  • godstypo

    who cares when layoffs will start? the question should be when will they end?

  • NortelTragedy

    Referring to the troll …

  • forgive

    He is just a victim. Why take it personal? Dare you confront your boss with such word? I bet you don't.

    You had better spell TROLL to your boss or whoever let you go in the coming days, and explain to your boss what that means, which makes you look much more professional.

  • Daphne

    This is part of what they have been trying to accomplish since Z-day. They don't have a solid plan to become a software/services company, and they were not able to execute the poor plan they had.

    Start the bidding at $10.00, no reserve. Put it on E-bay. “Buy your own Company – Become a CEO for just a few dollars! Yes, even YOU can experience the thrill and excitement of running your own Company into the ground. Make bad business decisions, lie to your Board of Directors, pay yourself as much as you want!”

  • Daphne

    Yes. When they announced the most recent of “reorganizations” and blood-letting (in early November), they stated that we have to make changes quickly. We expect to have all changes in place by the end of first quarter.

    So, the plan was to move quickly, but take 5 months to complete everything. Something smells fishy here, and it's not the employees. The leadership team and Board of Directors need to look in the mirror and they will see where the company troubles are.

  • less

    Imagine what yer typical American for-profit (morally) bankrupt corp would do in Nortel's situation to its noble yet underpaid, chronically exploited minority proles toiling for sub-par benefits in dank sweatshops to build unwieldy, inferior cancerogen-spewing behemoths that rape the globe and deplete the ozone for, uh, profit! Take GM…

    http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/03/news/companies/…

    NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — General Motors is offering buyouts to virtually all of its remaining hourly workers, becoming the latest automaker to try to cut labor costs by giving nervous workers an incentive to leave the company.

    The move follows a similar move by Chrysler LLC, which made an offer to its hourly workers on Monday.

    The GM (GM, Fortune 500) offer, which takes effect Friday, is less lucrative than the deal proposed by Chrysler, or even offers that GM has made to its hourly staff in the past. The automaker will give most of its 62,000 U.S. hourly workers $20,000, as well as a voucher good towards the purchase of a GM car worth $25,000.

    In the past, GM offered between $45,000 to $62,500 to workers to retire early, and $140,000 to employees who left the company and agreed to give up post-retirement health care coverage. Those offers were all cash.

    Chrylser's offer is for to $50,000 to virtually all of its 27,000 U.S. hourly workers, along with a voucher good for up to $25,000 on the purchase of a vehicle.

    Just fire 'em all already. Sheesh.

    Childers Arb said the company believes a significant number of workers will take the offer, even if they had turned down previous, more generous offers, especially with the changes in their contract and the less certain outlook for GM.

    Americans are greedy.

    GM and Chrysler were both in danger of running out of the cash they needed to operate at the end of last year until they received a $13.4 billion in emergency loan from the Treasury Department.

    Under terms of the loan, both companies must show progress towards bringing its labor costs in line with those at the nonunion U.S. plants of Asian automakers such as Toyota Motor (TM) and Honda Motor (HMC), or risk having the federal loan recalled

    Filing Ch 11 would've shown them high-falutin' customers who's boss.

  • exnt2

    sounds like another product at NT that was in decline. there were 3 JCI-5s reporting into the director to manage the release which only happened once a year. then there were 4 JCI-5s who each managed 3 JCI-4s who managed about 8-10 people.

    sweet.

  • scalpcutter

    They'll never end.
    Nature of the business.
    Your only hope is to be a rich egotistical exec who can get hired at juniper or funeral homes based on the fact they were an exec somewhere else. They didn't do anything and were basically useless, but they are an ex exec.
    That's it.
    The rest are screwed unless you are a supreme egg head with alot of patents.

  • Nortel watcher

    Folks,
    I'm wondering how it can get any worse for NT employees with regard to layoffs and the only item that comes to mind is those employees whose families have more than one member working at Nortel.

    However, I'm not aware of NT's position on nepotism. Can someone reach over to their H.R. handbook and confirm this? Does NT allow spouses, adult children, in-laws, etc. to work in the company?

  • NortelGal

    Yes. There are many married couples, in-laws, siblings, and parent/child combos working at Nortel. The only rule is that you can't report to someone with whom you have a familial relationship.

  • exnt2

    yes but they can report to your peer and if you are a director doing reviews of personnel with a peer then rest assured they are safe just like those reality shows. also these people move quicker as jobs are created when they want to move around.

    nortel is the most amazing company to work for.

  • NTHATER

    I'm not your “mate” !!! Funny to hear my southern friends who still work at that dump saying crap like, 'mate' and think it's all cute….kind of gay to me, not that theres anything wrong with that, mate!

  • NTHATER

    Guess you top performers don't have to spell? “obvisously”? wow, you are a true canadian lowlife.

  • NTHATER

    Can't wait till next Thursday you losers! I'll take care of your women (if there are any of you who aren't fag Canadians) since I can provide a means of living and you will be out of work with nothing but Powerpoint and 'project management' skills….!!!! Make her get her hair done before I come pick her up at the curb.

  • NTHATER

    Well at least Nortel supports ame-sex couples as being married i guess;

  • yes4aapl

    Has been Mike Z rewarded for failures?
    More than 3 years of failures. I can list a dozen failures in no time!
    My eyes are focused on President Obama.
    Lets see what Obama thinks about CEOs like Mike Z.
    Updated: 02/05/09 07:35 AM
    Obama puts cap on pay of top execs
    Limit affects firms that want bailouts
    By Ben Feller
    ASSOCIATED PRESS
    WASHINGTON — Assailing out-of-touch corporate pay and perks, President Obama on Wednesday slammed a salary cap on top executives from companies that want bailouts — but it’s a limit that could end up thinning the wallets of only a small number of people.

    Obama’s action comes as many Americans, while hanging on for economic life, have watched Wall Street high-fliers receive big-dollar bonuses even as their firms draw public help for survival.

    The president aimed for a target — extravagant corporate behavior on the public dime — that fit the mood of the day. His $500,000 salary limit on executives from a limited number of companies was part of a broader assault on what he called a “reckless culture” that has helped wreck the economy.

    “We don’t disparage wealth. We don’t begrudge anybody for achieving success. And we believe that success should be rewarded,” Obama said. “But what gets people upset — and rightfully so— are executives being rewarded for failure, especially when those rewards are subsidized by U. S. taxpayers.”
    ==========
    Question is
    Will Mike Z and Nortel disregard what President of USA thinks about them?
    even after ch11 stunt?
    if so, I would just wait for F Dunn criminal trials and hope Mike Z will be on the stand as well.
    As I remember first thing in the CH11 filing Nortel asked for cash not shares of NT!
    cash, cash, cash
    cash is the king, right?

  • yes4aapl

    Has been Mike Z rewarded for failures?
    More than 3 years of failures. I can list a dozen failures in no time!
    My eyes are focused on President Obama.
    Lets see what Obama thinks about CEOs like Mike Z.
    Updated: 02/05/09 07:35 AM
    Obama puts cap on pay of top execs
    Limit affects firms that want bailouts
    By Ben Feller
    ASSOCIATED PRESS
    WASHINGTON — Assailing out-of-touch corporate pay and perks, President Obama on Wednesday slammed a salary cap on top executives from companies that want bailouts — but it’s a limit that could end up thinning the wallets of only a small number of people.

    Obama’s action comes as many Americans, while hanging on for economic life, have watched Wall Street high-fliers receive big-dollar bonuses even as their firms draw public help for survival.

    The president aimed for a target — extravagant corporate behavior on the public dime — that fit the mood of the day. His $500,000 salary limit on executives from a limited number of companies was part of a broader assault on what he called a “reckless culture” that has helped wreck the economy.

    “We don’t disparage wealth. We don’t begrudge anybody for achieving success. And we believe that success should be rewarded,” Obama said. “But what gets people upset — and rightfully so— are executives being rewarded for failure, especially when those rewards are subsidized by U. S. taxpayers.”
    ==========
    Question is
    Will Mike Z and Nortel disregard what President of USA thinks about them?
    even after ch11 stunt?
    if so, I would just wait for F Dunn criminal trials and hope Mike Z will be on the stand as well.
    As I remember first thing in the CH11 filing Nortel asked for cash not shares of NT!
    cash, cash, cash
    cash is the king, right?

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