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[Richard230]

According to this article, Mercedes-Benz is offering their long-time managers a huge severance pay to voluntary leave the company. They must really want to streamline and cut the cost of their operations. Likely due to the current political and economic climate. Or will the managers be replaced by AI administrators?  : https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/mercedes-benz-offers-severance-payments-of-500-000-to-cut-staff/ar-AA1BovNv

[TheRan]

Maybe I missed it but I didn't see any mention of EVs or an EV specific factory in that article, no mention of a factory at all. The only job cuts mentioned are in administration and "team leaders", and nothing suggests it is about wanting to close down a factory but rather just saving money. If the positions aren't really needed then it makes sense, that's just what happens and not unusual or any indication of trying to cut back on production.

[Richard230]

Maybe I missed it but I didn't see any mention of EVs or an EV specific factory in that article, no mention of a factory at all. The only job cuts mentioned are in administration and "team leaders", and nothing suggests it is about wanting to close down a factory but rather just saving money. If the positions aren't really needed then it makes sense, that's just what happens and not unusual or any indication of trying to cut back on production.

You are right. Somehow I misread the article. 

[TheRan]

Dammit Rich, got me thinking I was going crazy. I was gonna say, I thought Merc was doing pretty well on the EV front. They've put a lot into it and got quite a few options, it seems like they offer an electric version of most of their models but if I remember right they're mostly built on dedicated architecture and not just a motor and battery shoved into an ICE chassis.

[Richard230]

Dammit Rich, got me thinking I was going crazy. I was gonna say, I thought Merc was doing pretty well on the EV front. They've put a lot into it and got quite a few options, it seems like they offer an electric version of most of their models but if I remember right they're mostly built on dedicated architecture and not just a motor and battery shoved into an ICE chassis.

Sorry about that. I was having a "senior moment:.    As you can see I revised the title and my first post.

[TheRan]

I do wonder though what it is they want to save that €5 billion for. They're hardly a company to be struggling so maybe it's for future plans, perhaps they could even be intending on investing even further on electric vehicles (let's hope it's not going to be something stupid like hydrogen).

[Specter]

Companies fairly often get a lot of managerial bloat, and from time to time, decide to trim the excess fat.
We had similar in the company I worked at.  Had a bunch of managers, and then a manager of managers... like what the fuck... isn't that what a director is for?  WHY does a manager need a manager, arent managers supposed to be able to manage without a lot of supervision bla bla bla.  It's just crony capitalism making jobs for friends and relatives

Interesting times.

aaron

[Richard230]

Companies fairly often get a lot of managerial bloat, and from time to time, decide to trim the excess fat.
We had similar in the company I worked at.  Had a bunch of managers, and then a manager of managers... like what the fuck... isn't that what a director is for?  WHY does a manager need a manager, arent managers supposed to be able to manage without a lot of supervision bla bla bla.  It's just crony capitalism making jobs for friends and relatives

Interesting times.

aaron

The city that I used to work for originally had a very trim management staff when I went to work for it in 1974. It went from the City Manager, to the department directors, to field supervisors and then to the worker bees. In 1976 the union went on strike for 30 days. That required the directors and supervisors to take over the day to day work. As an example, the Planning Director and his planners ended up operating the sewage treatment plant. Let me tell you, he did not like that job. After 30 days the union caved in, the strike ended and the workers got what the city had offered before the strike started.

The city management was so traumatized by those 30 days of having to actually perform work themselves that they created new mid-management positions in every department. Those new positions were set up to be "strike breakers" to perform the work done by their subordinates should there ever be another strike. But the union never had to strike again as they found political ways to get everything that they wanted. However, every since then the city staff has really become bloated and there seems to be more "managers" who tell other people what to do than actual people doing useful things.

[Specter]

That sounds about right, our power / utilities company is no better..  They have us workerbee's, then working foreman, ie strawboss, then managers, then possibly a manager of managers, then a director, once you go to the ass smashers down town, you have sometimes more directors, VP's, Senior VP's, the main vp, then the grand poobah, and of course all the little nits and nats inbetween for safety, hr, bla bla,  and this was for water, sewer, electric, and hr had it's own department basically, then there is the entire 'customer interaction' part, those who talked to the people besides the field workers fixing the stuff.  Now lets throw in some chief's and deputy chiefs,  it was insane.

Aaron

[Richard230]

I just heard a funny (but likely true) comment by a reporter who was reminiscing about what someone in the LA city government said years ago: "If I didn't have a conflict of interest in my job, I wouldn't have any interest at all".