4 ms·

Thousands of workers jobs cut as former boss walks away with $62M

65 points by soapboxrocket 7y ago

egdod 7y ago
That’s nothing. Look at the numbers for WeWork and Adam Neumann.
- krak12 7y ago
  Boeing build planes the are backbone of our society. Wework employees brings zero value to society and already they are better paid than all these workers that deserve your respect.
- iamaelephant 7y ago
  $62 isn't nothing, what are you talking about? What, you heard a bigger number once so it's nothing? Are you a child?
  - egdod 7y ago
    $62 million is indeed nothing compared to the $1.7 billion ($1,700 million) that Neumann walked away with. https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/10/22/20927188/wework-adam-neumann-payout-softbank-layoffs https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/10/22/20927188/wework-adam-n...
jonex 7y ago
The previous chief executive was "contractually entitled to receive $62.2m in stock and pension awards" that was accrued over 35 years at the company, but "he did not receive any severance pay or a 2019 annual bonus". How this is relevant in connection to the loss of jobs due to production interruptions is not at all clear. My impressions is that it's only made as clickbait in the hope that the reader would believe that he got it as severance or bonus payment.
- Pfhreak 7y ago
  About 2 million a year is a whole lot more than those laid off workers earned while there.
- Freestyler_3 7y ago
  Exactly, this was the deal that was made when he got the job. One thing that can be done is make a person personally responsible as executive, but everything has a downside.
  - dragonwriter 7y ago
    > Exactly, this was the deal that was made when he got the job. Yes, that's how the overlapping capitalist and executive classes take care of themselves, no matter what outcomes they produce, while assuring that labor pays a heavy price whenever something for which capital/executives are responsible goes wrong. That's rather the point.
- toomuchtodo 7y ago
  Why would it be wrong to clawback for lack of performance for the years that led up to Boeing’s reckoning? It’s not like it all happened in 2019. Contracts can be changed as business conditions change, or you’re found to be contributing to an environment where you’re flying the business towards the ground. CEO was overpaid for failing (so much so Boeing had to fish for a $10B credit line), take back some of the comp and distribute it as additional severance to workers impacted by said executive failure.
  - soapboxrocket 7y ago
    I agree with you here, he was responsible for the company that built the failed culture and airplane.
- soapboxrocket 7y ago
  The title is a bit click baity, but the point here is that Boeing isn't the one paying for the current shut down. The way the industry operates is that suppliers, like Spirit, don't get paid until 90 days after the airplane is delivered. No deliveries in over a year yet until recently they were still expected to deliver parts. Boeing is also taking payments on the airplanes every time they paint them, 1/3 on order, 1/3 on paint, and 1/3 on delivery. It's the optics that are bad. Boeing CEO creates a culture where the 737MAX was designed and delivered, and failed.
Pfhreak 7y ago
This is what capitalism looks like. This is happening all over, and shouldn't come as any particular surprise to anyone. We've been on this neoliberal track for the past 40-50 years and it's consistently been to the benefit of the bosses at the top and none of the workers below. I'd love to see more coops, more unions, heck, even nationalizing some companies (like Boeing in particular) and putting different objectives in place than purely capital gain. Unions aren't a silver bullet. Some unions are bad. Coops aren't a silver bullet, and some coops are bad. But we're clearly much too far in the neoliberal capitalist sphere now.
lotsofpulp 7y ago
>“I’m going through the struggle of finding a job, which is hard enough here in Wichita without 2,800 others also looking.” This is why people put up with the high cost of living cities.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
InTheArena 7y ago
Spirit Aerosystems has been a consistent problem for Boeing. Quality problems there are so great that people are flying planes from Kansas to Washington to get their safety and quality check out. Boeing, the union, and the workers all have turned a blind eye to quality and safety, and that’s why people - the CEO and the workers - are entitled to what they have in a contact. That does not cover future employment. the ultimate outcome here was easily predictable by anyone watching Boeing on the last 10 years, and by no means is the problem only at the top. Boeing is heading towards a government bail out very rapidly.
- mroche 7y ago
  > Boeing is heading towards a government bail out very rapidly. If this situation comes into reality and the government or another institution does not bail Boeing out, what kind of impact would we expect to see on the aerospace industry and community?
  - InTheArena 7y ago
    It’s happened in the past - most notably when Rolls Royce screwed up the engine for the Lockheed L-1011, taking both companies down. Both were bailed out by their respective governments( RR was government owned, Lockheed received loans with government backing) but Lockheed left the commercial sector despite easily having the best plane in the market.
superbrane 7y ago
CEO was rewarded for increasing artificially the stock price, through stock buy backs. He did a good job at that and a bad job at managing an industrial company. That s how big companies start to fail, they lose sight of what matters.
purplezooey 7y ago
"I’m going through the struggle of finding a job, which is hard enough here in Wichita without 2,800 others also looking.” This is like being a software engineer and living somewhere outside the BA.

65 points by soapboxrocket 7y ago

egdod 7y ago

That’s nothing. Look at the numbers for WeWork and Adam Neumann.

krak12 7y ago
Boeing build planes the are backbone of our society. Wework employees brings zero value to society and already they are better paid than all these workers that deserve your respect.
iamaelephant 7y ago
$62 isn't nothing, what are you talking about? What, you heard a bigger number once so it's nothing? Are you a child?
- egdod 7y ago
  $62 million is indeed nothing compared to the $1.7 billion ($1,700 million) that Neumann walked away with. https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/10/22/20927188/wework-adam-neumann-payout-softbank-layoffs https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/10/22/20927188/wework-adam-n...

jonex 7y ago

The previous chief executive was "contractually entitled to receive $62.2m in stock and pension awards" that was accrued over 35 years at the company, but "he did not receive any severance pay or a 2019 annual bonus". How this is relevant in connection to the loss of jobs due to production interruptions is not at all clear. My impressions is that it's only made as clickbait in the hope that the reader would believe that he got it as severance or bonus payment.

Pfhreak 7y ago
About 2 million a year is a whole lot more than those laid off workers earned while there.
Freestyler_3 7y ago
Exactly, this was the deal that was made when he got the job. One thing that can be done is make a person personally responsible as executive, but everything has a downside.
- dragonwriter 7y ago
  > Exactly, this was the deal that was made when he got the job. Yes, that's how the overlapping capitalist and executive classes take care of themselves, no matter what outcomes they produce, while assuring that labor pays a heavy price whenever something for which capital/executives are responsible goes wrong. That's rather the point.
toomuchtodo 7y ago
Why would it be wrong to clawback for lack of performance for the years that led up to Boeing’s reckoning? It’s not like it all happened in 2019. Contracts can be changed as business conditions change, or you’re found to be contributing to an environment where you’re flying the business towards the ground. CEO was overpaid for failing (so much so Boeing had to fish for a $10B credit line), take back some of the comp and distribute it as additional severance to workers impacted by said executive failure.
- soapboxrocket 7y ago
  I agree with you here, he was responsible for the company that built the failed culture and airplane.
soapboxrocket 7y ago
The title is a bit click baity, but the point here is that Boeing isn't the one paying for the current shut down. The way the industry operates is that suppliers, like Spirit, don't get paid until 90 days after the airplane is delivered. No deliveries in over a year yet until recently they were still expected to deliver parts. Boeing is also taking payments on the airplanes every time they paint them, 1/3 on order, 1/3 on paint, and 1/3 on delivery. It's the optics that are bad. Boeing CEO creates a culture where the 737MAX was designed and delivered, and failed.

Pfhreak 7y ago

This is what capitalism looks like. This is happening all over, and shouldn't come as any particular surprise to anyone. We've been on this neoliberal track for the past 40-50 years and it's consistently been to the benefit of the bosses at the top and none of the workers below. I'd love to see more coops, more unions, heck, even nationalizing some companies (like Boeing in particular) and putting different objectives in place than purely capital gain. Unions aren't a silver bullet. Some unions are bad. Coops aren't a silver bullet, and some coops are bad. But we're clearly much too far in the neoliberal capitalist sphere now.

lotsofpulp 7y ago

>“I’m going through the struggle of finding a job, which is hard enough here in Wichita without 2,800 others also looking.” This is why people put up with the high cost of living cities.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]

InTheArena 7y ago

Spirit Aerosystems has been a consistent problem for Boeing. Quality problems there are so great that people are flying planes from Kansas to Washington to get their safety and quality check out. Boeing, the union, and the workers all have turned a blind eye to quality and safety, and that’s why people - the CEO and the workers - are entitled to what they have in a contact. That does not cover future employment. the ultimate outcome here was easily predictable by anyone watching Boeing on the last 10 years, and by no means is the problem only at the top. Boeing is heading towards a government bail out very rapidly.

mroche 7y ago
> Boeing is heading towards a government bail out very rapidly. If this situation comes into reality and the government or another institution does not bail Boeing out, what kind of impact would we expect to see on the aerospace industry and community?
- InTheArena 7y ago
  It’s happened in the past - most notably when Rolls Royce screwed up the engine for the Lockheed L-1011, taking both companies down. Both were bailed out by their respective governments( RR was government owned, Lockheed received loans with government backing) but Lockheed left the commercial sector despite easily having the best plane in the market.

superbrane 7y ago

CEO was rewarded for increasing artificially the stock price, through stock buy backs. He did a good job at that and a bad job at managing an industrial company. That s how big companies start to fail, they lose sight of what matters.

purplezooey 7y ago

"I’m going through the struggle of finding a job, which is hard enough here in Wichita without 2,800 others also looking.” This is like being a software engineer and living somewhere outside the BA.