Motorola’s HR team is creating a consultation forum with
unions and staff to discuss efficiency savings and possible job cuts at its
Swindon plant.
HR manager Dyfed Evans told Personnel Today that he wants to
involve staff in the debate over productivity. Evans said, “Reducing the
headcount is only one of the options that we are looking at as a company. The
forum will look at ways to improve em-ployee productivity.”
Last week Motorola ann-ounced 4,000 job losses worldwide in
an attempt to boost profits.
The forum will be made up of 15 employees elected by the
Swindon workforce as well as three or four management representatives. Evans
said, “Key to the discussion will be how we can face the challenge of remaining
competitive in our marketplace.”
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Evans, who will chair the forum, claimed that the results of
the discussions will be filtered through the rest of the company. It will be
communicated through “round-tables” of site directors sitting down with a
randomly selected group of employees. He said, “We don’t want employees to
think deals are being done in smoke-filled rooms.”
The Swindon plant employs 1,600 staff and throughout the UK,
Motorola employs 10,000 employees and had sales of £3.9bn in 2000.
