Garmin to Lay off 141

 

From today, and if it was posted before I didn't see it. Just got in from being on the road all day.

http://www.kansas.com/business/updates/story/726831.html

Daniel

--
Garmin StreetPilot c580 & Nuvi 760 - Member 32160 - Traveling in Kansas

That's unfortunate..

I hate hear about people loosing their jobs. You know, it is surprising hearing that from a company that had reported sales of "almost $3.5 billion" last year.

--
Matt

It was going to happen

"Garmin told employees this morning the layoff is necessary because the company's record growth has been stalled by the economy."

Not just the economy, but their crappy new models and limits to moving maps from one device to another. If it wasn't for that I'd be upgrading every 6 months as I have done for the last few years.

140 of those are probably

140 of those are probably the ones that write the firmware. Don't need them, now do we? wink

Impact

"Employees are being laid off from Garmin's human resources, marketing administration and operations divisions. Marketing administration includes product support employees. Operations includes warehouse, manufacturing and customer repair employees."
It's looks like product support employees and customer repair employees will hurt us. Longer wait time on the phone and longer repair time.

--
Paul..... Nuvi 765T

This is not good news

We do not need anymore major companies having layoffs with the current status of our economy. We need to have jobs created, not depleted.

Layoffs

It's sad that this is the first mass layoffs in Garmin history.

My feeling is that layoffs are going to keep happening for awhile.

I hope the economy will pick up soon, and members of POI factory won't be affected or be affected minimally.

Right now is a great time

Right now is a great time for companies to dump employees and not get any extra scrutiny. Even companies that are profitable and in no danger are doing it under the guise of "the economy".

--
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/21626 - red light cameras do not work

Talk here....

Talk here is that they were handed a box for their stuff and asked to leave. I guess that makes sense because you don't want angry employees talking to Garmin customers. Seems pretty oold to me though.....

I hope

the quality of the unit don't go along with those laid off employees.

--
Mike

It's a shame. Hope our

It's a shame. Hope our country recovers soon.

Garmin

dkeane wrote:

From today, and if it was posted before I didn't see it. Just got in from being on the road all day.

http://www.kansas.com/business/updates/story/726831.html

Daniel

As much as it hurts it is sometimes a good opportunity for the company to get out the unproductive workers and hopefully keep the best. During good times companies tend to over staff and this is what happens when things start to slow down.

--
Bobby....Garmin 2450LM

Me Too -

Sorry to hear about anyone losing their jobs.

It's not just this country, but the entire world is going through some sort of economic problems. It will take time for people to regain confidence in our basic economic structure - IF - government will get out of the way and let the private sector regain momentum.

Will this really help?????????

dkeane wrote:

From today, and if it was posted before I didn't see it. Just got in from being on the road all day.

http://www.kansas.com/business/updates/story/726831.html

Daniel

If you figure the average worker earns $50,000 that only saves Garmin a little over $7mil. That seems like a drop in the bucket for a company this large.

Lay off

Sheesh, stop it already!
Companies are taking advantage of the downturn. They think they can "refresh" their workforce with newer, brighter and cheaper workers. They think that everybody else has all the smart employees that are being laid off and they can get "a better crop" for a whole lot less money. This was something I overheard from my top level senior management. I think it sux. I am seeing some excellent senior staff being laid off because a 28 yr old top level manager wants to "refresh the scenery" Like it's a screen refresh or something. A lot of families going needlessly into the ditch because a jackA$$ punk manager thinks it's cool.

--
RikRox NavTeq, Motonav TN765T, TomTom XXL 540T, Escort Redline, Radio Cobra 29, Lil Wil Antenna, Call Sign: "Rock"

Times a changing

It's like a page out of Terminator, machines rule the world.

We're not seen as humans, but as low cost labour. I don't think the people who are doing the layoffs really think about the families being affected, it's all about the bottom line.

saves more the 7 mil

Philc5987 wrote:

If you figure the average worker earns $50,000 that only saves Garmin a little over $7mil. That seems like a drop in the bucket for a company this large.

7 mil to the bottom line isn't a drop in the bucket to anyone!

you also need to consider the costs of insurance, expenses etc. etc. - it saves a lot more than just salary x # of people

additionally, most companies are not just laying off people ... they are minimizing inventory levels, increase min. order sizes etc. etc. It's the whole cost saving plan that creates the larger savings.

NOT that I'm am defending this or happy about anyone losing their jobs ... just stating that one needs to consider the whole package before jumping to conclusions and passing judgement.

And on top of that...

nuvic320 wrote:

Right now is a great time for companies to dump employees and not get any extra scrutiny. Even companies that are profitable and in no danger are doing it under the guise of "the economy".

Reduced benefits including limited health insurance, no reimburesement of expenses made, etc. etc..... Well its their time to take back everything they give you for your being loyal!!!! wink

no doubt ...

rahool wrote:

Reduced benefits including limited health insurance, no reimburesement of expenses made, etc. etc..... Well its their time to take back everything they give you for your being loyal!!!! wink

No doubt... however, with soooo many companies doing the same type of stuff, it's not easy finding greener pastures right now! That's the saddest part of the whole thing ... in the past, if a company struggled and made cuts, an employee could choose to leave and find a better/more stable job. Now those options are hugely limited! In many cases, the employee has no choice but to bend over and take it. Therefore, you find people spending less which results in more cuts and layoffs, which means less spending and on and on ... the proverbial downward spiral we are now in!

Layoffs

I feel what the Garmin employees are going though and I wish them luck and the best.
I am a charter bus driver here in Southern CA. I drive all over the south west but I to have been laded off. I have had to cut back on many things in clouding my internet use which is why I have not been here like I was. I am about to do something that I thought I would never do. I am going back to school to get my Class A license and go to Tractor Trailer OTR and be away from my family for months at a time. But I will do what I have to for my family and to save my home.
jolleyr

--
Southern CA Temp 76 and Sunny. Running around with my Nuvi 465T. Getting lost around the country and loving it.

Bottom Line numbers

djs wrote:
Philc5987 wrote:

If you figure the average worker earns $50,000 that only saves Garmin a little over $7mil. That seems like a drop in the bucket for a company this large.

7 mil to the bottom line isn't a drop in the bucket to anyone!

you also need to consider the costs of insurance, expenses etc. etc. - it saves a lot more than just salary x # of people

additionally, most companies are not just laying off people ... they are minimizing inventory levels, increase min. order sizes etc. etc. It's the whole cost saving plan that creates the larger savings.

NOT that I'm am defending this or happy about anyone losing their jobs ... just stating that one needs to consider the whole package before jumping to conclusions and passing judgement.

We do a lot of contracting so I know how the bottom line numbers are calculated for salaries. When you eliminate a position paying $50K a year, you figure in the amount of cost avoided (not saved, avoided) by not having to pay health insurance, vacation, holidays, taxes, consumable office supplies and, in some cases, even furniture rental required to support that person. Those are the costs that apply to the bottom line. Garmin, in eliminating the 141 positions will not necessarily increase their profit by the 7 mil, they will reduce their expenses by that amount through the avoiding of the costs of those employees. Reducing expenses allows for the company to retain more revenue which may or may not increase profit.

--
ɐ‾nsǝɹ Just one click away from the end of the Internet

India?

I wonder if this means that calling customer support will now get you someone who is actually named Sanjaby who will have a script saying, "My name is Ken, how may I help you?"

--
GPSMAP 76CSx - nüvi 760 - nüvi 200 - GPSMAP 78S

Very Sad

The whole world economy is just in turmoil. surprised Best of luck to everyone! smile

--
END_OF_LINE

sucks! I really love their

sucks! I really love their product line

Don't forget. . .

Philc5987 wrote:
dkeane wrote:

From today, and if it was posted before I didn't see it. Just got in from being on the road all day.

http://www.kansas.com/business/updates/story/726831.html

Daniel

If you figure the average worker earns $50,000 that only saves Garmin a little over $7mil. That seems like a drop in the bucket for a company this large.

Don't forget to add in the cost of company paid benefits (Fringes). The true cost of an employee earning a $50,000 salary is approximately $72,500 when you add the 45% fringe pay. Then add in all of the consumables and utilities at approx 15% per employee to bring it up to approx $80,000/employee

That said it's actually about $11.3MM.

--
JRoz -- DriveSmart 55 & Traffic

Layoffs

seeingthecity wrote:

We're not seen as humans, but as low cost labour. I don't think the people who are doing the layoffs really think about the families being affected, it's all about the bottom line.

When word comes down from above to lay off a certain number or percent of your workforce, you can care but you can't do a thing about the families. The people who decide the numbers of people to go are insulated from the actual process. That's why I am glad my director at work likes to keep plenty of contractors around. Very easy to let the "temps" go when you need to save and keep the actual employees around. When things get better, we staff up with the contractors, usually a lot of the same ones that were there before.

Regardless, if Garmin is laying off in the customer service areas, I can almost guarantee that means longer hold times than we are used to (unless they had people sitting around doing nothing). I don't know how seriously they have considered outsourcing (I assume it has come up in more than one discussion there as it has most everywhere else) but these are the times when things like this get more consideration. Let's hope they keep the jobs here and don't cut back to the point where service and support take a noticeable hit in quality.

Cost avoided just means more bonuses for top management.....

a_user wrote:
djs wrote:
Philc5987 wrote:

If you figure the average worker earns $50,000 that only saves Garmin a little over $7mil. That seems like a drop in the bucket for a company this large.

7 mil to the bottom line isn't a drop in the bucket to anyone!

you also need to consider the costs of insurance, expenses etc. etc. - it saves a lot more than just salary x # of people

additionally, most companies are not just laying off people ... they are minimizing inventory levels, increase min. order sizes etc. etc. It's the whole cost saving plan that creates the larger savings.

NOT that I'm am defending this or happy about anyone losing their jobs ... just stating that one needs to consider the whole package before jumping to conclusions and passing judgement.

We do a lot of contracting so I know how the bottom line numbers are calculated for salaries. When you eliminate a position paying $50K a year, you figure in the amount of cost avoided (not saved, avoided) by not having to pay health insurance, vacation, holidays, taxes, consumable office supplies and, in some cases, even furniture rental required to support that person. Those are the costs that apply to the bottom line. Garmin, in eliminating the 141 positions will not necessarily increase their profit by the 7 mil, they will reduce their expenses by that amount through the avoiding of the costs of those employees. Reducing expenses allows for the company to retain more revenue which may or may not increase profit.

You see it all the time. Top management continue to receive big bonuses at the expense of the little people at the bottom.

a_user wrote: djs

a_user wrote:
djs wrote:
Philc5987 wrote:

If you figure the average worker earns $50,000 that only saves Garmin a little over $7mil. That seems like a drop in the bucket for a company this large.

7 mil to the bottom line isn't a drop in the bucket to anyone!

you also need to consider the costs of insurance, expenses etc. etc. - it saves a lot more than just salary x # of people

additionally, most companies are not just laying off people ... they are minimizing inventory levels, increase min. order sizes etc. etc. It's the whole cost saving plan that creates the larger savings.

NOT that I'm am defending this or happy about anyone losing their jobs ... just stating that one needs to consider the whole package before jumping to conclusions and passing judgement.

We do a lot of contracting so I know how the bottom line numbers are calculated for salaries. When you eliminate a position paying $50K a year, you figure in the amount of cost avoided (not saved, avoided) by not having to pay health insurance, vacation, holidays, taxes, consumable office supplies and, in some cases, even furniture rental required to support that person. Those are the costs that apply to the bottom line. Garmin, in eliminating the 141 positions will not necessarily increase their profit by the 7 mil, they will reduce their expenses by that amount through the avoiding of the costs of those employees. Reducing expenses allows for the company to retain more revenue which may or may not increase profit.

Bring back jobs

So perhaps it is time to bring some of those out sourced jobs back to the country that buys their products. Just heard that Chrysler is thinking of pulling all production out of Canada. I live in Canada and have a crappy Caravan. I would have thought differently about purchasing local if the company was going to kill off jobs. The thing looses value faster than bananas!

Bob

--
Robert Woodcock

Sad Time

I hate to hear this but am not surprised. It is just a sign of the times.

I got hit two weeks before Christmas and I feel for anyone in that situation.

I am sure Garmin only cut some of "the fat" away... but it still doesn't make it any easier for the ones walked out the door.

Time will only how it effects them.

Cheers,
Ronnie

--
nuvi 750 / nuvi 255W / nuvi 200W / nuvi 1390t

If Chrysler do pull out of

If Chrysler do pull out of Canada they will make their last vehicle sale in Canada the day they go, it's not like there aren't plenty of good alternatives.

Reading Between the Lines

No sign of any executives or managers being cut. They always take care of themselves first, while the people who actually do the work are put on the streets.

Golden Parachutes in the Cayman Islands

Fluxuated wrote:

140 of those are probably the ones that write the firmware. Don't need them, now do we? wink

Not in the least, Now if we could get the terrible decision makers out the door as well, we would all be better off however they would rather get their Golden Parachutes ready.

Fluxuated I agree with you whole completely,about the Firmware writers!

Caymans

--
Using Android Based GPS.The above post and my sig reflects my own opinions, expressed for the purpose of informing or inspiring, not commanding. Naturally, you are free to reject or embrace whatever you read.

That's what happened

DuaneC60 wrote:

Talk here is that they were handed a box for their stuff and asked to leave. I guess that makes sense because you don't want angry employees talking to Garmin customers. Seems pretty oold to me though.....

That is exactly how it went. The security guard came in and sat by the doors, and we were called in one by one, paraded past our other co-workers, told of the meager severance pay, given a box and 5 minutes to say good bye. That was it.

No "recall" are expected, but we are "welcome to reapply". Of course they did not say if time would be bridged. There are a lot of things I want to say, but won't, because I don't want to be accused of "sour grapes", but the whole thing reeks of getting rid of the higher paid professionals, and staffing with the untrained staff who quote policy when they say no to everything, including "free" mounts and mapping. More to come...

Out sourcing

You can be assured of longer wait times, multiple transfers, and quotations of the "policy" in place so you don't get the "free" mounts. We had always been quick to make sure the customer was cared for and about, and many of you have spoken to me, of that I am sure.

I can also promise that you will see outsourcing, if not today, in the near future. This is NOT sour grapes, but it is a cold hard fact of how Garmin is choosing to do business currently. They are no longer allowing the "mapping" updates unless you can prove when you purchased it, and a day outside the date of the guarantee, it is void. The days of "free" friction mounts to replace the "iffy" window suction mounts are over, as are the days of getting a tech that knew the device and wanting to take time to help you.

Wait times of 30 to 45 minutes will not be unusual, and product life spans are shorter. They will be discontinuing products at a rate that will make the Nuvi 850's life look like a long span. It is just the nature of how the upper management wants to do business. Software patches will be out, ONLY when the device is current, when discontinued, problems will not be resolved, again, this comes from the management on high.

Garmin is still an awesome product, if you have the right one. The firmware updates will be "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" and the ever popular "freebies" will no longer be there for the customer. I had heard that they will be allowed to send one replacement suction holder, then no more, and power cables will be limited, maybe one, maybe none, depending on the situation. Just don't call on the day after warranty expires, they are following a script now regarding policy on the warranty, and the warranty period.

We used to help people who called that had a device that was old, if it was a known problem. Now, if you have a known problem, it will no longer be fixed, unless you want to pay.

Yes, it's sad, but if you have the right product, it's awesome.

I'm Sorry

I'm sorry to hear that. There are problems when companies only look at the dollar signs. They need to remember that customers remember when a cs goes above and beyond the call of duty, and when they feel a company gave them a raw deal. Anybody can read a script but knowing what the script means and reading between the lines makes for good cs. But, I am sure that there are some that took advantage of Garmin in the past and I don't think that is right either.

Sad indeed

Daniel

--
Garmin StreetPilot c580 & Nuvi 760 - Member 32160 - Traveling in Kansas

Interesting info Hautedawg.

Interesting info Hautedawg. I always wondered how Garmin could justify having so many models when GPS prices were falling like a rock, and many units are being priced as disposable gadgets.

Sorry to hear of your layoff.

--
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/21626 - red light cameras do not work

Garmin Management

hautedawg wrote:

Software patches will be out, ONLY when the device is current, when discontinued, problems will not be resolved, again, this comes from the management on high.

Garmin is still an awesome product, if you have the right one. The firmware updates will be "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" ollowing a script now regarding policy on the warranty, and the warranty period.

We used to help people who called that had a device that was old, if it was a known problem. Now, if you have a known problem, it will no longer be fixed, unless you want to pay.

Yes, it's sad, but if you have the right product, it's awesome.

I am sorry that you lost your job. You sound like the person who helped me many times when I called. Product support is what makes a good company great, look at Sears. You mention that if you had the right product, but the way they make new models who knows which is the right one? I hope the best for you.

--
Paul..... Nuvi 765T

Re: That's What Happened...

hautedawg wrote:

That is exactly how it went. The security guard came in and sat by the doors, and we were called in one by one, paraded past our other co-workers, told of the meager severance pay, given a box and 5 minutes to say good bye. That was it.

No "recall" are expected, but we are "welcome to reapply". Of course they did not say if time would be bridged. There are a lot of things I want to say, but won't, because I don't want to be accused of "sour grapes", but the whole thing reeks of getting rid of the higher paid professionals, and staffing with the untrained staff who quote policy when they say no to everything, including "free" mounts and mapping. More to come...

Hi hautedawg,

I wonder if the “executives” (and I use that term loosely) at Garmin will vote themselves large bonuses or golden parachutes, after they run the company into the ground? After all, if insurance giant “AIG” can do it, why not everybody else?

This whole situation stinks...

Regards,

Tailspin

Nüvi 670 & 880
Mac Pro & OS 10.5.4

--
Sullivan's Law: Murphy was an optimist!

hautedawg

I am so sorry to hear that you lost your job. You have always been very supportive of this community and I wish you all the best in the future.

You were a valuable employee who took pride in his work. It is a shame that they let you go.

Miss POI

Executives taking care of themselves

tailspin wrote:

I wonder if the “executives” (and I use that term loosely) at Garmin will vote themselves large bonuses or golden parachutes, after they run the company into the ground? After all, if insurance giant “AIG” can do it, why not everybody else?

Of course they will, that's the way it always works. When I worked for a certain company years ago, I remember when they came around and told us there was little money for raises that year and we may get 2% but that was about all they could afford. What they failed to remember was that we had an IPO that year and they had given us all stock. Since we were shareholders, we all got copies of the annual report. There was no money for us but the report showed that the executives all got $100,00 bonuses and the CEO received a 399% pay increase.
At least we knew why there was no money for us.

re: That's What Happened

Sorry to hear about your job, hautedog. That's a helluva way to be let go.

I'm hoping you can find a job soon that will treat you better.

I worked 15 years with the same company, rising up through the ranks. Then they went through a downturn and I was just put out in the cold without anything, so I know how it is.

Golden Parachutes

The founders of Garmin, Gary and Min, are both great guys, and neither of them has a "Golden Parachute". Min still goes to work every day, and actually, for a man of his stature in a company, doesn't have a very large salary. It is public information, and most of his money comes in the form of stock. With stock being so far down, he isn't making much money, seriously.

The problems are not with the "upper management", but more with the "middle management" group. Please don't think of this as sour grapes, I am just spouting truths. We went from Mandatory 10 hours/week of overtime, to zero overtime, to layoffs in a matter of 2 months. They laid off primarily people who had been there 2+ years, keeping the untrained and less experienced people. It is my understanding, and from talking to people still there, that the "newbies" are more easily re-trained to not be so "giving". THIS is my biggest fear.

Garmin set the standard of customer support, and when I talked to people, we often times ended up as friends. Some of "my" customers have my home email, home telephone number and various ways to get hold of me, because we were working on a project, or simply became friends. I believe this is what made our Customer Support so wonderful, the fact that we cared about the customer, that we wanted to be friends, and the fact that many of the reps thought the way I did, whatever needed to be done was.

The middle management is very REactive, not PROactive. They see a problem, and react. When we were in a busy season, they hired 100 new reps, many with little experience or training. When we got busy, they laid off 141, most with seniority and knowledge, but with the habits of old, taking care of the customer no matter what. This is what made Garmin such a great company.

So, to answer the question about golden parachutes, no, the executive group does not have these in place, the middle management however has a strangle hold on the company, and are using it as their own playground. They try things, and if it doesn't work, they just get rid of people. Many things could have been done to avoid the layoff, but middle management was quick to make knee jerk reactions.

I will remain a proponent of Garmin, and as I have said, if you have the right model, you're golden. If you want to know what the "right" is, call and ask what model is having problems. Ask what models they have the most complaints about, and do so nicely. I believe the rep will tell you. You can also ask people on this site. POI Factory is a great resource, and I am sure many of you reading this were sent to this site by me.

Yes, I miss Garmin, very much. I loved working with the customers, actually enjoyed talking to you, and would do anything in my power to help you. I am scared to death that this is changing, that the days of happy service is turning into sales for accessories, charges for repairs and little or no information on diagnosis of problems and limited training. You can not train someone on something you have never seen. At the end of my career, the reps would not see the new models, and we "may" have had one on the floor for 200 people.

But I got off track. Gary and Min are both wonderful men, and they do NOT have golden parachutes in place.

Is Aaron Rubenking still there or did he get let go also?

hautedawg

Sorry to hear about what happened to you. If they let the great customer service that they have been known for suffer too much it may come back and bite them in the rear.

Is Aaron Rubenking still there or did he get let go also?

--
Garmin Drive Smart 55 - Samsung Note 10 Smartphone with Google Maps & HERE Apps

Wake up America!

Looking For A Job . . . .

John Smith started the day early having set his alarm clock
(MADE IN JAPAN )
for 6 am.

While his coffeepot
(MADE IN CHINA )

was perking, he shaved with his electric razor.
(MADE IN HONG KONG ).

He put on a dress shirt
(MADE IN SRI LANKA ),

designer jeans
(MADE IN SINGAPORE )

and tennis shoes.
(MADE IN KOREA )

After cooking his breakfast in his new electric skillet
(MADE IN INDIA )

he sat down with his calculator
(MADE IN MEXICO )

to see how much he could spend today. After setting his watch
(MADE IN TAIWAN )

to the radio
(MADE IN INDIA )

he got in his car
(MADE IN JAPAN )

wouldn't start so he borrowed his wife's car
(Made in China)

filled it with GAS
(From Saudi Arabia )

and continued his search for a good paying AMERICAN JOB.

At the end of yet another discouraging and fruitless day checking his computer
(Made In Malaysia ),

He had to call tech support
(Located in India), Couldn't understand the person so gave up.

Joe decided to relax for a while and smell the roses
(Grown in Colombia)

He put on his sandals
(MADE IN BRAZIL )

poured himself a glass of wine
(MADE IN FRANCE )

and turned on his TV
(MADE IN INDONESIA ),

and then wondered why he can't find a good paying job in AMERICA.

--
Garmin Nuvi 780

End of an era

hautedawg wrote:

I loved working with the customers, actually enjoyed talking to you, and would do anything in my power to help you. I am scared to death that this is changing, that the days of happy service is turning into sales for accessories, charges for repairs and little or no information on diagnosis of problems and limited training.

Yes, it's people like you who made me switch to Garmin from other brands to begin with and loyally purchase new units and maps (without pirating). I noticed in the last couple of years the switch to nickel and dimeing for accessories rather than including them and the increasingly shorter lifespan of units. I still laugh when I see the $50 Garmin premium leather case and think how much my Nuvi 760 costs right before they discontinued.

Senior mgmt had better get a grip on what's going on or they risk losing all their loyal customers. Every mobile phone manufacturer is adding GPS function now and they are only getting better.