3 Hub location strategy - What do you think?

[Anonymous]

To your point above I am amazed that there aren't any class action lawsuits for all of these actions.

The reason is there is no specific US law that says they can't get away with it.

There would be an uproar if they said we will only allow white singles under 30 to continue to work for IT. Yet if they do it based on geographic location we don't fight it.

IT and American business has worked decades to get to where we are inventing and utilizing virtual computing tools. J&J has taken a huge step backwards by taking this strategy. It will take a while, but it will come back to haunt them. Even stiff, blue-suit IBM sees the value of a virtual workforce, and promotes it highly.

J&J is loosing so much business knowledge base from the ITSS hemorrhaging located at the operating companies. All the IT technical wonder in NJ isn't going to make up for the application experience where IT really matters.

Get closer to your customer? Get the voice of the customer? Understand your customer? Nope, we'll go hide in the IT shed and tell you what the next technology is going to be -- the day we roll it out.

 

[Anonymous]

The reason is there is no specific US law that says they can't get away with it.

There would be an uproar if they said we will only allow white singles under 30 to continue to work for IT. Yet if they do it based on geographic location we don't fight it.

IT and American business has worked decades to get to where we are inventing and utilizing virtual computing tools. J&J has taken a huge step backwards by taking this strategy. It will take a while, but it will come back to haunt them. Even stiff, blue-suit IBM sees the value of a virtual workforce, and promotes it highly.

J&J is loosing so much business knowledge base from the ITSS hemorrhaging located at the operating companies. All the IT technical wonder in NJ isn't going to make up for the application experience where IT really matters.

Get closer to your customer? Get the voice of the customer? Understand your customer? Nope, we'll go hide in the IT shed and tell you what the next technology is going to be -- the day we roll it out.

Its called 'at will' employment and it works well from a competitive stand point. Allows companies to get rid of lazy employees who have a sense of entitlement about their jobs. People who cause problems, don't upgrade their skill sets or folks who can't get with the program when the company decides to move in a different direction. Its also part of what makes our country great! Yeah sometimes people get put on the street but you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah sometimes people get put on the street but you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.

The people are the company, stupid. Fundamental fact of management in a knowledge economy.

 

[Anonymous]

The people are the company, stupid. Fundamental fact of management in a knowledge economy.

Yes but the "people" could be located here, Poland, India or China. Doesn't have to be a collection of over paid whiners in Raritan who "boo-hoo" have it so hard. Ten million Americans are out of work and mean old DR is picking on me. Sal T didn't send me a Christmas card. Shut up whiners and get back to work.

 

[Anonymous]

The coprophagous troll wrote --

Yes but the "people" could be located here, Poland, India or China.

I for one, being willing and indeed eager to embrace change, am really enthusiastic about replacing our senior IT management with Poles, Indians or Chinese. This is a brilliant idea. It is certain that can we get people who are much better qualified to do these jobs at far lower cost. And if most of the work is done in India anyway, I don't see the point of having an IT management in the US. It makes far more sense to co-localize the IT management with the workers.

When this happens, I will break out the champagne.

 

[Anonymous]

The coprophagous troll wrote --



I for one, being willing and indeed eager to embrace change, am really enthusiastic about replacing our senior IT management with Poles, Indians or Chinese. This is a brilliant idea. It is certain that can we get people who are much better qualified to do these jobs at far lower cost. And if most of the work is done in India anyway, I don't see the point of having an IT management in the US. It makes far more sense to co-localize the IT management with the workers.

When this happens, I will break out the champagne.

I agree so when you packing your bags worthless wonder? Your the first piece of trash I would throw out.

 

[Anonymous]

They are building a Command Center in Raritan? Why? All the monitoring is done in India. I asked Management and they said 'So LC can say she has one'. What a waste of time and money. In 5 years all the furniture and large flat screens will be in the basement, piled right next to the other old Command Center furniture. Turn the lights off. It's time to go home. Let Verizon and Mirosoft straighten out the mess. You know there is trouble when a Director who is hired, tells you he has a degree in Outsourcing.

 

[Anonymous]

Whilst I can sort of understand the concept of centralising what we have in house and moving them to key locations, I am not convinced it is as simple as it sounds. Especially as nearly all work is done offshore (India) and nearly all management and decision are made in NA. It leaves the question - why have EMEA and ASPAC hubs and not just go the whole hog and have NA and offsore only?

I work with ASPAC, EMEA and NA and I can see ASPAC suffering already.

It seems the folks in Sydney were let go before a team in Singapore were skilled up - if there is actually going to be a team in Sydney? I have heard rumours that that may not be the case and the numbers will be very limited.

Yes True, no team in SG as yet, across the board. No UNIX Team, No Windows Team and as for Sydney... I hear only 2 FTE's left on the floor!

Although the people in Sydney who walked away werent too upset, pretty huge payouts from what i heard... they will all go on to bigger and better things outside of J&J, then so called "ITS" becomes just a really bad faint memory..

 

[Anonymous]

Its called 'at will' employment and it works well from a competitive stand point. Allows companies to get rid of lazy employees who have a sense of entitlement about their jobs. People who cause problems, don't upgrade their skill sets or folks who can't get with the program when the company decides to move in a different direction. Its also part of what makes our country great! Yeah sometimes people get put on the street but you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.

The problem isn't that capatilism isn't a good idea, the problem is that it is not being applied to BW and LC.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm one who was "released" last year so my role could go back to Raritan and I recently touched base with colleagues who remain after the culling and the story I hear now is terrbile. Cracks appearing everywhere and shadow IT teams springing up because ITS can't / won't deliver what the OpCo's want. It must be very very tough to be at the coal-face with BU/IT folks and be lumbered with trying to explian the paralysis resulting from this ITLT decision.

What a tragedy for IT in J&J. It seems that my enforced departure may have been a huge blessing after all...

 

[Anonymous]

I'm one who was "released" last year so my role could go back to Raritan.

Did you know you could have gotten a relocation package to move to Raritan? People in GPM got a choice of a severance package to leave the company or a $50,000 lump sum package when their jobs went to Raritan. They didn't even have to move to Raritan. Just take the check and cash it and hang around for two years.

Makes you feel sorry for the schmucks who got "released" without knowing about that offer, or for the schmucks who would have stayed if they had seen such an offer in their group, or for the schmucks who relocated to Raritan on their own dime.

 

[Anonymous]

Did you know you could have gotten a relocation package to move to Raritan? People in GPM got a choice of a severance package to leave the company or a $50,000 lump sum package when their jobs went to Raritan. They didn't even have to move to Raritan. Just take the check and cash it and hang around for two years.

Makes you feel sorry for the schmucks who got "released" without knowing about that offer, or for the schmucks who would have stayed if they had seen such an offer in their group, or for the schmucks who relocated to Raritan on their own dime.

I'll like to know which GPM associate received a package and did not move????
because every single one who was impacted in NA, either moved within a 10 months, or left J&J...

 

[Anonymous]

Incorrect - GPM associates were not given a choice of relo or severance. They were given a choice of severance or job, and had barely 2 weeks to decide even though the legal garb said 2 months.

It was many many weeks later that it leaked that a very limited few(single digits) were given relo monies to move, which allowed one individual to drive for equality for all in the department.

It was from this dialogue and heated discussions with HR and Common Ground that a decision was made to "allow" this individual, and then "proactively" get others in the same situation the money.

It was only after these discussions that it was determined you didn't actually have to physically relocate.

 

[Anonymous]

So tell me again why LaVerne spent all that money on state-of-the-art Cisco video-conferencing facilities? I thought the idea was that we would be a virtual workforce, not one tied to a particular location.

 

[Anonymous]

..... call me crazy but you would have thought that someone just might have taken a look to see where everyone might sit. I can't wait until a fire marshal shows up one day and sees all the cars parked in the fire lane.

 

[Anonymous]

So now that LVC is about to sing, will we see a reversal of the 3 hub location strategy? Will any of the dozens of hard-working talented staff around the world who were cast aside have a chance to come back to help rebuild the shattered wreck that she will leave behind?

Would they want to? Hmmm...

Personally, I would come back for the right role because I LOVED working for J&J up until the LVC years.

Cast your votes now!

 

[Anonymous]

Incorrect - GPM associates were not given a choice of relo or severance. They were given a choice of severance or job, and had barely 2 weeks to decide even though the legal garb said 2 months.

It was many many weeks later that it leaked that a very limited few(single digits) were given relo monies to move, which allowed one individual to drive for equality for all in the department.

It was from this dialogue and heated discussions with HR and Common Ground that a decision was made to "allow" this individual, and then "proactively" get others in the same situation the money.

It was only after these discussions that it was determined you didn't actually have to physically relocate.

To summarize,
GPM folks got $50,000 lump sum for relocation, but didn't have to move.

 

[Anonymous]

To summarize,
GPM folks got $50,000 lump sum for relocation, but didn't have to move.

Who cares? You think this place is fair? If you don't, call the Credo line or talk to Common Ground. So what if they got money and didn't have to relocate? What have you done for yourself? It's your choice how hard you want to push for any kind of fairness from the company. If someone else got a good deal, it just means you haven't worked hard enough to get yours.