100 jobs going in Ericsson Athlone

roosterman71

http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/1108/athlone-jobs-ericsson.html

http://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/ericsson-axes-100-jobs-in-athlone-573462.html

veryangryman

They sure are.

Voluntary all in all. Alot of people will be interested in these id imagine. 6 months wages + walk into any other I.T job

athlonelad

veryangryman wrote: »

They sure are.

Voluntary all in all. Alot of people will be interested in these id imagine. 6 months wages + walk into any other I.T job

Not good for athlone as a whole though.

sealgaire

6 months wages?

veryangryman

sealgaire wrote: »

6 months wages?

Sensitive information though it is, anyone with basic math could grasp that youd get at least that as redundancy payment

mooonpie

athlonelad wrote: »

Not good for athlone as a whole though.

They've hired ~ 200 graduates in the past 2 years from what I hear, and they're still hiring. So it's not exactly bad for Athlone either

athlonelad

moonpie9588 wrote: »

They've hired ~ 200 graduates in the past 2 years from what I hear, and they're still hiring. So it's not exactly bad for Athlone either

How is job loss NOT a bad thing?
Hopefully there is a few entrepreneurs amongst them who can maybe create a few start up jobs!

Milk & Honey

athlonelad wrote: »

How is job loss NOT a bad thing?

It may be a sign that the company is being well run and is not keeping people on doing jobs which are no longer needed and, the costs of which may ultimately threaten the survival of the entire company. Many successful companies fail because they don't adapt to a changing environment.

mooonpie

athlonelad wrote: »

How is job loss NOT a bad thing?
Hopefully there is a few entrepreneurs amongst them who can maybe create a few start up jobs!

Did you even read my post?

I'm not at all saying the job losses are good, but they've brought in about 100 people a year for the last 2 years and the company are still hiring graduates!

I was talking to them at a careers fair a couple of months ago and as well as the graduate positions they have, they're sponsoring 2 Masters courses (1 in AIT, 1 in DIT) for about 50 people each this year. Anyone who passes the course is guaranteed a job with them in Athlone.

If these 100 job losses allow them to continue hiring ~ 100 people a year, how is that a bad thing for the town?

athlonelad

moonpie9588 wrote: »

Did you even read my post?

I'm not at all saying the job losses are good, but they've brought in about 100 people a year for the last 2 years and the company are still hiring graduates!

I was talking to them at a careers fair a couple of months ago and as well as the graduate positions they have, they're sponsoring 2 Masters courses (1 in AIT, 1 in DIT) for about 50 people each this year. Anyone who passes the course is guaranteed a job with them in Athlone.

If these 100 job losses allow them to continue hiring ~ 100 people a year, how is that a bad thing for the town?

If they can that's a different matter of course.

cycnus

I am not 1 bit surprised.

They do not pay their staff well enough, so turnover is already high. Since they do not pay very well, they do not get smart innovative people, and so the cutting edge development is done elsewhere.

Engineers are treated like factory workers, and it is just one big local boys club where favortism is rife, and questioning the norm frowned upon.

The only reason people stay there is because it is the Software industry equivalent of a public sector job.

Also, they had 1 manger for ever 5 employees, so they had to get rid of about half of them.

The reason they have to make cuts is because they are getting massacred in the European markets by Huawei and ZTE.

If anyone from the outside world was to see how Ericsson Ireland was run, they would be shocked that is has stayed open so long.

veryangryman

Id agree with you on the "not paying well" bit but come on, its the midlands of Ireland. They pay crap because the cost of living is low. Plus competition for staff just isn't there (thank you IDA). Same job in Dublin would probably pay ~30% more which youd more than likely pay in living expenses.

Disclaimer: I'm local so am biased. Just it would not pay me to go elsewhere really. The money is given to those who work hard/are seen as assets to the place. If I had no ties to town, id likely be gone yonks ago.

Now, enough defending them....

Cons. I do wish theyd follow the IBM model (big raises to the top 20%, nothing for the middle and encourage the bottom 20% to feck off). The recent layoffs were very questionable (some apt, some not) and were more about what department you were in rather than your own proven ability. They are also brutal at managing outsourcing, rarely putting the effort into getting the right balance, just outsourcing to "look good".

cycnus

correction, a job in Dublin/Galway/Limerick/Cork would offer about 100% more in some cases. That is how bad the salaries are, and that cannot be explained or justified by rent or cost of living. Galway is only 40 minutes away.

It comes down to a simple decision. Stay in a low paid, easy, convenient job with no future, and not learn transferable skills, where the longer you stay, the more useless you become, or go further afield to earn real money and get real experience. When a company places staff in that position, they end up loosing the people they need to keep.

They should adopt the model of a software company, rather than a factory, then they would be successful. But still, the writing is on the wall, they rested on their laurels way too long, and they are just moving round the deck chairs on the Titanic at the moment. This is one ship that is going down in the near future.

veryangryman

cycnus wrote: »

correction, a job in Dublin/Galway/Limerick/Cork would offer about 100% more in some cases. That is how bad the salaries are, and that cannot be explained or justified by rent or cost of living. Galway is only 40 minutes away.

It comes down to a simple decision. Stay in a low paid, easy, convenient job with no future, and not learn transferable skills, where the longer you stay, the more useless you become, or go further afield to earn real money and get real experience. When a company places staff in that position, they end up loosing the people they need to keep.

They should adopt the model of a software company, rather than a factory, then they would be successful. But still, the writing is on the wall, they rested on their laurels way too long, and they are just moving round the deck chairs on the Titanic at the moment. This is one ship that is going down in the near future.

It is indeed amazing how they have stayed open all this time. Why suddenly would this apparent "magic" stop working? They've obviously done something right; its very bitter to say that they are somehow a sinking ship. And badmouthing a former employer is a tad unprofessional.

And yes you do get passengers in their model, but anyone worth their salt doesnt just look to a company to decide their future. You can be a passenger and just "do whats asked" or you can look to new ways to improve your situation (ask for a differing role in what is a huge organisation, do some courses on the side or if necessary/feasible, move jobs). LMI will still be open in some form for many years to come; they've been growing and shrinking in Athlone and many have said they're fukced (a la 2003) before. The "deck chair rearranging" cliches stink of watching one too many Vincent Brownes. They would be long closed by now if they didnt look like a good option for HQ.

I would think that long-term what will happen is that the nature of what is being done there will change (they became a software campus from being a unit production place before) as networks becomes less of a cash cow in Europe. Time will tell.

cycnus

Never watched Vincent Brown, so dont get the reference.

Ive already explained why the magic has stopped working, but let me elaborate.

1. their competitors are no longer weak. They are large strong organisations who can get the job done cheaper, faster, and to a better quality

2. European customers no longer care about buying european. They want quality, and they want cheap.

If you think I have bad mouthed a former employer, you are wrong, I suggest you reread. If anything, I took a dig at people who remain there. Which probably explains your defensiveness.

Trying to justify committing career Seppuku because "its handy" is a crazy attitude. I think that anyone who stays in a deeply unrewarding carreer, where T&Cs erode rather than improve over time, in an industry that is booming, and people with less experience are earning 20-30k more per year less than an hour away is completely deluded, and is not being totally honest with themselves. perhaps they are even a very angry man.

veryangryman

cycnus wrote: »

Never watched Vincent Brown, so dont get the reference.

Ive already explained why the magic has stopped working, but let me elaborate.

1. their competitors are no longer weak. They are large strong organisations who can get the job done cheaper, faster, and to a better quality

2. European customers no longer care about buying european. They want quality, and they want cheap.

If you think I have bad mouthed a former employer, you are wrong, I suggest you reread. If anything, I took a dig at people who remain there. Which probably explains your defensiveness.

Trying to justify committing career Seppuku because "its handy" is a crazy attitude. I think that anyone who stays in a deeply unrewarding carreer, where T&Cs erode rather than improve over time, in an industry that is booming, and people with less experience are earning 20-30k more per year less than an hour away is completely deluded, and is not being totally honest with themselves. perhaps they are even a very angry man.

I dont recall saying "its handy". Nor justifying anyone staying for that reason. Im also not of the opinion that your job should define where you live (or live+commute - Galway is 90 minutes round trip). The last sentences are mutually exclusive. Career!=Life.

As for not knocking former employers, i gave your post a reread and counted 5 criticisms of them.

They should adopt the model of a software company, rather than a factory, then they would be successful. But still, the writing is on the wall, they rested on their laurels way too long, and they are just moving round the deck chairs on the Titanic at the moment. This is one ship that is going down in the near future.

Maybe your right - sure lets all just assume it and jump ship now, leaving our friends and family behind.

"Why wait for 1984? When you can panic now, and avoid the rush" - Gils Scott Heron.

I think that to tar over 700 people with the "wasting your lives" brush is pretty gross. Alot of people are happy (some very happy) there and likely would not be as happy elsewhere. To repeat myself, career is but one part of the jigsaw of life.

roosterman71

cycnus wrote: »

Never watched Vincent Brown, so dont get the reference.

Ive already explained why the magic has stopped working, but let me elaborate.

1. their competitors are no longer weak. They are large strong organisations who can get the job done cheaper, faster, and to a better quality

2. European customers no longer care about buying european. They want quality, and they want cheap.

If you think I have bad mouthed a former employer, you are wrong, I suggest you reread. If anything, I took a dig at people who remain there. Which probably explains your defensiveness.

Trying to justify committing career Seppuku because "its handy" is a crazy attitude. I think that anyone who stays in a deeply unrewarding carreer, where T&Cs erode rather than improve over time, in an industry that is booming, and people with less experience are earning 20-30k more per year less than an hour away is completely deluded, and is not being totally honest with themselves. perhaps they are even a very angry man.

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cycnus

how can an engineer possibly read any of my statements and come to the conclusions you have? i really dislike when people totally misread and misquote almost everything i said. it makes me feel like im wasting my time.

there were plenty of criticisms. i dont deny that. i just could have sworn you accused me of badmouthing a few posts ago. when someone gives you a criticism of a negative plan of action or idea, you consider that badmouthing? hmm.

secondly, i dont recall saying you said it was handy. They

leave your friends and family behind? lol perish the thought they might forget and disown you after your 90 minute round trip! are you for real? have you ever actually left the midlands?

but jumping ship? well yes. if you see said ship has a hole in it, and you can jump in a comfy dingy that is not overcrowded, why would you wait for it to go down? surely it will be easier to find a job when there arent 112 other people with similar or better experience than ones-self looking for a similar job?

panic now? good engineers dont panic. they see patterns developing, and take action to mitigate risks. panic is for people with no plan of action. clearly you see a different pattern emerging.

now, a couple of points, firstly, i think you forgot to subtract 100 from the above number, secondly i did not tar anyone with the "wasting your lives" brush as you put it. see, again i have to repeat myself purely because i type one thing, and you choose to read another...

I have acknowledged several times that some people stay where they are because its easy, of course there are people who are happy with an easy existence. I have lots of respect for someone who will admit that. What I dont have time for, is someone who is lying to themselves trying to justify it in terms of cost,(a big salary increase is guaranteed when moving to a new job in IT) or not leaving their home town behind, its not like these other jobs are on the moon... and the last time i checked, fuel, eggs, milk, bread etc are a similar price around Ireland. This is ROI, not USI. when I hear someone say those things, in my head, it translates to "I do not have the confidence in my ability to seek a job somewhere else, I dont think I will be able to get away with what i do here in another company, and though im paid ****, its ok because there is not much expected in return."

Now, if you will excuse me, im off to enjoy my healthy balanced social life

Saint_Mel

As was said in another post, some of the redundancies were linked to the department rather than the person, but from what I heard that process wasn't well managed either.

I heard of cases where some people had applied for voluntary but were turned down as they were too valuable to the company ... and then a week later they were notified that they were being let go as part of the mandatory redundancies!!!

veryangryman

Saint_Mel wrote: »

As was said in another post, some of the redundancies were linked to the department rather than the person, but from what I heard that process wasn't well managed either.

I heard of cases where some people had applied for voluntary but were turned down as they were too valuable to the company ... and then a week later they were notified that they were being let go as part of the mandatory redundancies!!!

I didnt hear of same but if true, sounds awful.

"Who ya know and what ya know" - alot of that sh1t going on. You won't hear me arguing with that.

Based on the areas/people who left, my thinking is that the decision/numbers were decided at least 6 months prior to the actual announcement.

Sinking ship is complete cack as far as im concerned. The place (may) lower numbers but i cant see it closing. Since we wont agree on this, lets just bet. If the company is still in Athlone in 5 years (these threads survive at least that long) with over 500 staff, then i win. Are you on?