Could the writing on the wall be any clearer?
September 17th, 2006 | by mbhunter |The recently announced buyout packages for all 75,000 of Ford’s hourly work force was pretty generous.
The options ranged from early retirement with full benefits, early retirement with a $35k payout, or a cash-out of up to $140,000 with a forfeiture of future benefits. And they also made it appealing to younger employees as well: how about $100,000 for college?
Actually, they’re more than pretty generous. They’re very generous. They’re huge. A six-figure payout is enormous. I don’t know for sure, but if someone put $100,000 in my hand, chances are I’d close my hand. This comes on the heels of 10,000 salaried job cuts at Ford.
Add in huge losses for Ford, dwindling market share … seems like the writing on the wall is pretty clear.
I hope that a lot of people take the cash payouts. I don’t really see very long lives for any pensions that the employees might opt for.
