Author Topic: Tory Bruno to announce layoffs on 3/29  (Read 85027 times)

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Tory Bruno to announce layoffs on 3/29
« on: 03/18/2016 03:29 pm »
Tory Bruno will discuss "workforce reshaping" at ULA on 3/29.  Meeting will be held in Denver and webcast to all satellite locations.  Reductions in force are expected to be substantial.  Older, more senior employees will most likely be hit hardest, acording to future staffing charts that were accidentally made available to all employees.

Offline rcoppola

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Re: Tory Bruno to announce layoffs on 3/29
« Reply #1 on: 03/18/2016 03:50 pm »
Tory Bruno will discuss "workforce reshaping" at ULA on 3/29.  Meeting will be held in Denver and webcast to all satellite locations.  Reductions in force are expected to be substantial.  Older, more senior employees will most likely be hit hardest, acording to future staffing charts that were accidentally made available to all employees.
If staffing charts were already accidentally released, I wouldn't wait until the 29th for this meeting.
« Last Edit: 03/18/2016 03:50 pm by rcoppola »
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Offline tobi453

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Re: Tory Bruno to announce layoffs on 3/29
« Reply #2 on: 03/18/2016 03:50 pm »
Wow. So Tory Bruno is serious about reforming the company.

Probably not so nice for the older, senior employees.

Offline edkyle99

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Re: Tory Bruno to announce layoffs on 3/29
« Reply #3 on: 03/18/2016 04:10 pm »
Age discrimination law is going to be carefully monitored here, I'm sure, given this loose talk about targeting "senior" employees.  Age discrimination during RIFs is an often-trod area of law. 

 - Ed Kyle

Offline Rocket Science

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Re: Tory Bruno to announce layoffs on 3/29
« Reply #4 on: 03/18/2016 04:13 pm »
"workforce reshaping", there's a new one... PR spin for a crappy-hand dealt to the workers. Best of luck to those affected...
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Offline edkyle99

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Re: Tory Bruno to announce layoffs on 3/29
« Reply #5 on: 03/18/2016 04:27 pm »
The result of all of this industry shakeup is painfully predictable.  The savings to the Pentagon will be lost covering the cost of the failures, not just by ULA but by the new entrants.

 - Ed Kyle
« Last Edit: 03/18/2016 04:28 pm by edkyle99 »

Offline nadreck

Re: Tory Bruno to announce layoffs on 3/29
« Reply #6 on: 03/18/2016 04:30 pm »
The result of all of this industry shakeup is painfully predictable.  The savings to the Pentagon will be lost covering the cost of the failures, not just by ULA but by the new entrants.

 - Ed Kyle

What savings to the Pentagon? This doesn't change the block buy contract in any way. This is about savings to ULA
« Last Edit: 03/18/2016 04:32 pm by nadreck »
It is all well and good to quote those things that made it past your confirmation bias that other people wrote, but this is a discussion board damnit! Let us know what you think! And why!

Offline Newton_V

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Re: Tory Bruno to announce layoffs on 3/29
« Reply #7 on: 03/18/2016 04:31 pm »
The charts weren't accidentally released (it's amazing what could always be found by some people searching around).  As far back as I can remember, there are always projected staffing levels a couple years out.  Usually they weren't seen until all-hands meeting.   They almost always show doom and gloom 2 to 3 years out.
I'm not downplaying the layoffs, but it's not a surprise.   What's unknown are the amounts.  ULA has a large amount of employees in their mid-50s and up.   Probably will offer a voluntary package first.
The age distribution seems to be an inverse bell curve.  Not a lot of people in the 35 to 50 yr age bracket, compared to 25 to 30 and 55 and up.


Offline edkyle99

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Re: Tory Bruno to announce layoffs on 3/29
« Reply #8 on: 03/18/2016 04:37 pm »
The result of all of this industry shakeup is painfully predictable.  The savings to the Pentagon will be lost covering the cost of the failures, not just by ULA but by the new entrants.

 - Ed Kyle

What savings to the Pentagon? This doesn't change the block buy contract in any way. This is about savings to ULA
These cutbacks are setting the stage for 2019 and later, after the capabilities contract ends, after SpaceX and others start taking on some of these launches, after Vulcan starts flying and these old, reliable EELVs are phased out, along with the "senior" staffing that made them so successful.

 - Ed Kyle

Offline AS-503

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Re: Tory Bruno to announce layoffs on 3/29
« Reply #9 on: 03/18/2016 04:42 pm »
The result of all of this industry shakeup is painfully predictable.  The savings to the Pentagon will be lost covering the cost of the failures, not just by ULA but by the new entrants.

 - Ed Kyle

Don't worry Ed, old age and treachery will always overcome youth and skill.  8)
Old-space won't secede the stage to new-space just yet. Nor should they.

Sarcasm aside, your point suggests not adopting change (kick the can down the road) while also assuming that future failures will be ongoing and insurmountable. Are you seriously arguing for continuing the status quo?

Offline nadreck

Re: Tory Bruno to announce layoffs on 3/29
« Reply #10 on: 03/18/2016 04:52 pm »
The result of all of this industry shakeup is painfully predictable.  The savings to the Pentagon will be lost covering the cost of the failures, not just by ULA but by the new entrants.

 - Ed Kyle

What savings to the Pentagon? This doesn't change the block buy contract in any way. This is about savings to ULA
These cutbacks are setting the stage for 2019 and later, after the capabilities contract ends, after SpaceX and others start taking on some of these launches, after Vulcan starts flying and these old, reliable EELVs are phased out, along with the "senior" staffing that made them so successful.

 - Ed Kyle

And where do you see savings for the Pentagon in 2019 or later in this? ULA has never promised savings to the Pentagon, and SpaceX has only been able to bid on one contract so far. There is no savings to the money that the Pentagon has committed and future business will be at whatever price the contracts set, so it isn't a matter of what "savings" are going to be made at this point as no prices have yet been established, but, when they are, the current political perception is that outside of the block buy, is that prices will be less subject to overrun.
It is all well and good to quote those things that made it past your confirmation bias that other people wrote, but this is a discussion board damnit! Let us know what you think! And why!

Offline rcoppola

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Re: Tory Bruno to announce layoffs on 3/29
« Reply #11 on: 03/18/2016 05:09 pm »
It's a tough call. I'm sure Tory isn't thrilled about it. But he has to reduce his overhead, invest that back into the business, become more competitive, then hopefully grow his business again and at some point, hopefully be able to hire a new generation of workers down the road. They'll be reducing across all verticals though. And with only 2 pads and one launcher as the near term vision, they just won't need their current workforce. And this is not limited to ULA, it will reverberate throughout their supply chain. Just look at what may happen to AJR in the next few years. They may lose everything ULA related to BO and ATK. But, that means the new BO will be hiring as perhaps would ATK. And the wheel keeps spinning.

As crass as this may sound and I know how this feels, but, adapt or die. Do you want a 20% reduction in todays workforce or 100% of tomorrow's. I was in San Diego recently and my cab driver was complaining about Uber. I said we are living in very disruptive times and as much as I understood and sympathized with his plight, you can't go around ripping all the ATM machines out and putting bank tellers back in the windows. Nor will all the ATM machine providers and service technicians be able to stop everyone bypassing those and using their various money transfer apps. And it takes many thousands of people to build and service ATMs but only a handful to build and maintain an app. Etc...etc...

Anyways, my many thanks and admiration for all those that have helped loft many of the sats and spacecraft that have so positively impacted us all. Best of luck in the days, weeks, months, years to come. Hell...good luck to all of us. The pace of change is staggering and only getting faster. There's no going back.
« Last Edit: 03/18/2016 05:12 pm by rcoppola »
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Offline spacenut

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Re: Tory Bruno to announce layoffs on 3/29
« Reply #12 on: 03/18/2016 05:19 pm »
The company I worked for over about 20 years had 3 early outs for people 55 and older.  They paid them something like 1 months salary for every year worked.  They also had their 401k's and pensions.  I retired early at 60 but medical insurance is the biggest problem.  I could see something like this. 

Many at 55 could go to work with BO or SpaceX as consultants.  I consulted for about a year with my own company at same salary part time with no benefits.  They may call me back this spring. 

There could also be a hiring freeze.  Many lower skilled employees with less than say 5 years could be laid off also.  If it is older, there may be early out options given to them.  I could see the happening first to the Delta side. 

Offline ChrisWilson68

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Re: Tory Bruno to announce layoffs on 3/29
« Reply #13 on: 03/18/2016 05:24 pm »
The result of all of this industry shakeup is painfully predictable.  The savings to the Pentagon will be lost covering the cost of the failures, not just by ULA but by the new entrants.

Tory Bruno believes these cuts will not reduce reliability.  So you seem to think you know better than the CEO of ULA whether ULA can safely reduce its staff.  Strange.

Offline EE Scott

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Re: Tory Bruno to announce layoffs on 3/29
« Reply #14 on: 03/18/2016 05:42 pm »
The result of all of this industry shakeup is painfully predictable.  The savings to the Pentagon will be lost covering the cost of the failures, not just by ULA but by the new entrants.

 - Ed Kyle

I do see Ed's point here, and it's a good one. What ULA (and Boeing/McDonnell Douglas and LM prior) did with the EELV program was provide the USG a level of service that was many times more valuable than what was and is currently being spent on the program. There is no substitute for reliable access to space (especially for national security payloads) and ULA continues to provide a level of reliability that is significantly above expectations. A major reason they have been so successful is precisely because of the level of expertise of these workers who are now in the 50+ age range. Letting large numbers of those folks go can only detract from the capabilities of the company going forward.
« Last Edit: 03/18/2016 05:44 pm by EE Scott »
Scott

Offline RocketGoBoom

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Re: Tory Bruno to announce layoffs on 3/29
« Reply #15 on: 03/18/2016 05:55 pm »
All of their employees are ranked based on how valuable they are to the core mission. It sucks to have that stack ranking, but it happens.

ULA managers typically know who their top 20% of key technical employees are to keep the mother ship running. Those people will be retained and hopefully be training their new, younger and cheaper workforce.

It sucks all around for people in that 50-55 age bracket that are not yet ready to retire. Hopefully there will be 3rd party consulting opportunities for them.

Also with new space entrants such as SpaceX, Blue Origin and others hiring, there might be a landing elsewhere for those willing to relocate.

Offline Robotbeat

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Re: Tory Bruno to announce layoffs on 3/29
« Reply #16 on: 03/18/2016 05:55 pm »
Age discrimination law is going to be carefully monitored here, I'm sure, given this loose talk about targeting "senior" employees.  Age discrimination during RIFs is an often-trod area of law. 

 - Ed Kyle
Not age discrimination but compensation. So often, it's the lower paid, least-connected lower rungs that are laid off first which makes no sense since the company probably gets the biggest bang for the buck from them.

Boomers with cushy compensation packages should not be immune to the economic forces that make the job market a huge challenge to everyone else.
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Offline Kansan52

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Re: Tory Bruno to announce layoffs on 3/29
« Reply #17 on: 03/18/2016 06:00 pm »
Buy outs would seem the order of the day. And it must happen for the 'leaner' company they are working towards.

This is tough but what could be the result. A Vulcan flying with the same reliability as the Atlas does now because the ULA has applied lessons learned to flying the Vulcan. Now they have a lower cost launch service with high reliability. It doesn't need to be the lowest price because their flexibility and reliability will win contracts.

Offline Space Ghost 1962

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Re: Tory Bruno to announce layoffs on 3/29
« Reply #18 on: 03/18/2016 06:04 pm »
A Vulcan flying with the same reliability as the Atlas does now because the ULA has applied lessons learned to flying the Vulcan.
Where applicable.

Offline edkyle99

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Re: Tory Bruno to announce layoffs on 3/29
« Reply #19 on: 03/18/2016 06:12 pm »
Sarcasm aside, your point suggests not adopting change (kick the can down the road) while also assuming that future failures will be ongoing and insurmountable. Are you seriously arguing for continuing the status quo?
I'm not arguing for or against anything.  I'm only stating what I expect will be the result, not just of this workforce reduction but of the entire shift from "status quo" to whatever is coming.  What is coming is new propulsion, new structures, new software, new processes, and new people.  Anyone who thinks that all of this new stuff is going to be Atlas 5-reliable out of the box is kidding themselves. 

Just look at Antares and Falcon 9.  They are Proton-reliable, so far.  Blue Origin and SpaceX engines replacing Aerojet-Rocketdyne and Energomash?  I'm not saying that new won't do fine in the long run, but count the number of launches boosted by the new guys (30-ish) compared to the others (nearly 4,900).  There will be a learning curve unlike anything seen in the U.S. since the late 1950s. 

 - Ed Kyle
« Last Edit: 03/18/2016 06:17 pm by edkyle99 »

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