NO LOVE AT DEMATIC (GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN)

After claiming they have satisfied the initial terms and conditions of a job-related Michigan tax break, Dematic, a makers of automated machinery for industrial applications, appears to be continuing their planned layoffs and a transition to a production facility based in Monterrey, Mexico. In a WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice) filed with the State of Michigan, the company announced its intentions to lay off another 60 production workers, most in manufacturing and many represented by the United Auto Workers union, in the firsts months of 2018. 

At risk are additional number of workers that might be affected by the transition as Dematic has told the union that their Grand Rapids manufacturing facility will be substantially closed by mid-2018 and completely shut down by the end of 2018. 

As we have seen before, problems can arise from union contracts which do not well represent the realities between loss of business, increasing competition, global logistics, wages, benefits, and the necessity of increasing production while lowering costs. Looking at the type of workers scheduled for layoff, (welders, mechanics, electronics technicians, machine operators) is consistent with the decline in manufacturing jobs within the United States. 

Safe for the time being are the administrative and engineering staff in similarly located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. According to a company spokesperson, “This move will help to further increase our global competitiveness and secure highly-skilled engineering jobs based in Grand Rapids.” 

To be noted, this is the type of industrial operation that changes ownership as the global poohbahs play Monopoly with real companies and real money. According to UAW local President Scott Wahlfeldt, “in 1980, the company was acquired by Lear Siegler Corporation and exchanged hands four times until 2006, when it was acquired by Triton, a private equity firm from Siemens. It was sold to KION, a German maker of forklift trucks and automated material handling equipment for $2.1 billion in 2016. 

Translation: Welcome to Dematic Mexico ...

"Dematic designs, develops and delivers solutions that optimize your supply chain, improve productivity and increase the performance of your system in your manufacturing area and within the four walls of your warehouse or distribution center, in addition to providing support and technical assistance throughout the life cycle of its logistics solutions."

Are you asking yourself, Am I Next?

NO LOVE AT CENTEGRA HEALTH SYSTEM

Another health organization has announced mass layoffs after a major multi-million dollar loss for the year.

According to published reports, Centegra Health System plans to redress its $52.3 million loss for the recently ended fiscal year by laying off approximately 131 support and administrative workers.

In addition to layoffs, it will be outsourcing another 230 jobs to nThrive which already runs the business and IT operations at Centegra. This should come as no surprise to anyone observing the domestic outsourcing trend to avoid legal entanglements with personnel by employing an independent intermediary as a.buffer between an organization and its personnel. 

Of course, management had plausible reasons for the losses other than, of course, a failure in leadership: opening a new facility, more Medicare and Medicare patients, and billing adjustments and other write-offs.

Centegra CEO Michael Eesley wrote in an employee memo: “The difficult decision to balance our workforce through a reduction will ensure our health system is financially viable for years to come. While this day marks a major step toward financial improvements, it brings change for people in a number of positions."

It would be no surprise if this was some form of pre-merger tuning and preparing the stage to remove duplicative services without major legal or procedural hassles as it has been reported that Centegra is still working to finalize an affiliation or merger agreement with Chicago-based Northwestern Medicine. The deal expected to close in 2018 is said to involve no money and there are no details in potential changes in management.

Employees should add the use of local outsourcing of organizational functions to their list of continuing employment red flags.